Real Madrid vs Paris Saint Germain(2-2) – Post Match Tactical Analysis

Real Madrid played out a thrilling draw against PSG at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The game turned out to be a thriller where either team could have taken the spoils. But Los Blancos will slightly feel more hurt to have missed out on a victory considering they had a whopping 27 shots (with 12 on target and 2 hitting the crossbar) and were 2-0 up by the 80th minute.

Formation

Zinedine Zidane, yet again surprised all of us by including Isco in the starting line-up ahead of Gareth Bale and Rodrygo. He occupied the right wing position but as the match progressed Isco drifted down to the centre to form a “Diamond” with Kroos, Casemiro and Valverde. Isco positioned himself very well and his primary duty was to mark PSG’s defensive midfielder Marquinhos so as to cut off his passing lanes and prevent him from distributing the ball to PSG’s wide forwards.

Real Madrid played a very high defensive line and were pressing PSG very high up the pitch. This made them vulnerable to PSG’s counterattack. But unlike the last time round when the two teams met, Los Blancos did not leave huge gaps between midfield and defense. So they were easily able to recover the ball back much once they lose possession.

Attacking Transition

Los Blancos on paper lined up with a 4-3-1-2 formation with Isco playing the free role, roaming into spaces and in that process, drawing the PSG players out of positon which in turn created gaps for the Real Madrid players to exploit.

But in reality Real played more of a 4-2-3-1 with Kroos and Casemiro forming an uneven Double Pivot where Kroos was far more up the pitch on the left when compared to Casemiro. Fede Valverde occupied the Right Midfield position and pushed higher up the field where he created overloads with Daniel Carvajal (which eventually led to Real Madrid’s first goal).

Isco played behind Benzema and and tended to drift towards the wings, primarily along the left, from where Real Madrid created majority of their chances.

When with possession Real attacked down the left with Marcelo again proving all his critics wrong as to why he should be starting the big games ahead of summer signing Ferland Mendy. It’s quite simple. He provides so much in attack that you can neglect his defensive contribution. Whenever Real attacked down the left Marcelo pushed higher up the pitch. This gave Real Madrid 3 men up front down the left (considering that Benzema drifted down the left to create chances). This forced Mbappe (who started the game surprisingly as a right winger ahead of Di Maira) to drop down and help in defense.

With Real Madrid attacking down the left, their left was overcrowded with players creating overloads which made it difficult for PSG to counter down the left. So once PSG won back possession they had to distribute the ball to their left (Real Madrid’s right)and counter from their left. By the time they did so Real Madrid also recovered and dropped back to defend. This eventually made it difficult for PSG to create chances as their midfield was being overrun very easily by Real Madrid’s.

In the second half Tuchel introduced Neymar in place of Idrissa Gueye, so as to create more chances upfront. Neymar played more of a similar role as Isco but was not looking 100%. He often positioned himself in the gaps created between Kroos and Casemiro. But this didn’t stop Real Madrid from attacking. Infact the first big chance of the game in the second half was created by Los Blancos, but were eventually denied by Keylor Navas who had an amazing games saving 10 out of the 12 shots he faced.

Real Madrid were so close to winning the game in the dying moments where Gareth Bale’s free-kick hit the woodwork. But at the end of it all we can comfortably say that Real Madrid played one of their best games in the recent past and credit must be given to Zinedine Zidane. He trusted his players and his tactics, and it has paid dividends.

Defensive Transition

Real Madrid were more well organized when compared to how they fared last time round, against the same opposition. PSG came with a clear plan to attack down the left through Mbappe by taking advantage of Marcelo defensive vulnerabilities. But this didn’t happen because of two reasons. One was that Kroos and Ramos covered for him defensively and because of Real’s high press and defensive line on most occasions he was isolated from the play. Second being Mbappe was forced to drop down to help PSG in both the defensive and build up play because PSG were outnumbered by the Real Madrid players down the left. This eventually led to Di Maria and Mbappe swapping flanks(after PSG conceded their first goal) which was a win-win for both teams. Mbappe had more space down their left and Di Maria helped PSG defensively. As for Los Blancos they were more stronger, defensively on their right.

When Madrid was dispossessed, they pressed PSG high up the pitch and tried to recover the ball in PSG’s half itself. Fede Valverde(Tackles-3,Interceptions-3), Toni Kroos(3,1) and Casemiro(4,0) were instrumental in Real Madrid’s press. Unlike last time round there was no gap between defense and midfield, so PSG found it real hard to find spaces to attack.

PSG scored two goals less than 2 miuntes after Real scored their second. The first was due to a miscommunication between Courtois and Varane which could have been prevented had Varane cleared the ball or if Courtois had gathered it clearly. And just like that before they recovered Los Blancos conceded another.

But those two goals definitely doesn’t overlook the efforts put by Real Madrid in the game. But definitely those two goals could have been prevented.

Man of the Match

From the PSG perspective : Keylor Navas

Had it not been for Keylor, Real Madrid would have been around 4 or 5 goals up in the first half itself. He was a wall at the back. He had a game high 10 saves (out of a possible 12) and 2 clearances.

From the Real Madrid perspective : Toni Kroos

Kroos made over a 100 passes had a pass accuracy of 98% and a game high of 7 key passes. He also accounted for Marcelo’s positioning and was an integral component of Real Madrid’s attack down the left.

Other Noteworthy Performances

• Karim Benzema continued his goal scoring run but he was denied a hattrick by Navas.
• Eden Hazard showed more of his Chelsea form as he was a threat whenever he had the ball. Infact his amazing dribble past the midfield of PSG led to the build up of what was an amazing first goal for Real Madrid
• Carvajal’s presence down the right provided Los Blancos both a defensive and offensive stability.

What next for Real Madrid

Los Blancos have now qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League along with PSG from their group. Their next game is against Alaves on the 30th of November.

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