Real Madrid vs Manchester City Tactical Battle: Post-match analysis.

February 28, 2020

Real Madrid suffered their first home UCL knock-out defeat since 2009 from Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. It was the first team City has defeated Real Madrid in UCL.

Kevin De Bruyne celebrating with teammates after converting his penalty. Image: Evening Standard.

Both teams lined up in a 4-3-3 formation but with different approaches. Real Madrid used a 2-4-4 tactic when in possession and a 4-4-2 during defensive mode. Guardiola and his men went for a 2-3-5 with possession and dropped into a 4-4-2 formation in their defensive shape.

The teams played with a lot of fear in the first half as Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane tried to invent tactics. During the first 15 minutes, Real Madrid were in total control of the match but without any shot on target. Manchester City seemed to be studying Real Madrid's tactics during this phase.

Tactics Used:

Both teams played with high defensive lines.

Real Madrid and Man City played with high defensive lines so that there can be no spaces left for a player to occupy. And it is through this tactic, Real Madrid had reduced Kevin De Bruyne's goal contribution rate.

During the first half, De Bruyne created only one big chance which saw Gabriel Jesus' effort being saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Playing the ball from the back.

Both teams rarely went long during the first half. They started the ball from the back. When Real Madrid's Courtois started the ball, Rodri was marking Casemiro while Gundögan kept an eye on Modrić.

On the other side, Isco kept watching Gundögan while Modrić marked Rodrigo. This is where Pep Guardiola's intelligence came in. Pep told Bernado Silva to drop in between the lines and created an overload of 3V2 in the middfield.

Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) controls the ball as Bernardo Silva (Man City) looks on. Image: Sports Mole.

Real Madrid Long balls tactic.

The Los Blancos (R. Madrid) used 28 long balls against Man City. This was after Aymeric Laporte was injured. Fernandinho and Otamendi were not fast enough and Real Madrid took advantage.

This tactic was slowed down by Man City's counter-pressing as they did not give the Madrid players time and space to launch long balls.

Why Real Madrid Lost:

Real Madrid played brilliant football but goals differentiated them from Guardiola's Manchester City.

Manchester City's two False number nines.

Manchester City used a 4-1-3-2 formation as Gabriel Jesus shifted to the left wing as Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva led the attacks. This tactic always confused the Real Madrid defenders as they failed to identify their opponents roles. Here, Guardiola's intention was to break their defence and have numbers advantage in the midfield.

Gabriel Jesus shifting to the left wing while Bernado Silva and Kevin De Bruyne play as main strikers. Image: courtesy-Stan Wenjere via whatsapp.

The introduction of Raheem Sterling.

Raheem Sterling changed the entire City game and the momentum was switched to attacking mode. Manchester City used this tactic to penetrate through R. Madrid's defence which they did intelligently. Sterling contributes to both Man City goals. By Pep doing this, Manchester City had the penetration power from Sterling.

Raheem Sterling changed Man City's game tactically as he was involved in both goals. Image: Getty.

Man City's quick one-touch passes.

This tactic made Man City to have more skills as Raheem was dribble past Dani Carvajaal and won a penalty which was converted by De Bruyne. These quick touches to displace the opposition midfielder out of his position and create a gap behind him.

Madrid were not clinical in front of the goal.

Real Madrid got several clear chances but they were all blown away. The Los Blancos paid for the lost chances by conceding two goals instead.

CONCLUSION:

Manchester City is the 1st England side to win their last 16 UCL match this season. It was one of their solid performance against Real Madrid in this decade. Can they knock Real Madrid out of the UCL?

Comment below and let me know!