An initially conservative Espanyol changed their approach after Messi’s first brilliant free kick goal. However, Barcelona’s fire power of Suárez, Dembélé and a stellar Messi still came out on the top in the ensuing battle of pressing systems and defense-to-attack transitions. The second half saw Espanyol unable to change this dynamic from the bench. Tactical […]
Alavés dominated the first half with an uncharacteristic pressing scheme on Sevilla’s midfielders, effectively disconnecting Sevilla’s midfield from their attack. During the second half, Sevilla substitutes Quincy Promes and Pablo Sarabia turned the match around by helping their team find their usual offensive mechanisms. Tactical analysis by José Pérez. Without a doubt Alavés, coached by […]
Real Madrid calmly gained an advantage over a listless Valencia side, before securing the result on the counter-attack when Valencia decided to become more proactive. Tactical analysis and match report by Om Arvind. Expectations for Valencia coming into the 2018/19 season were very high, given their strong fourth place finish in the previous campaign. They […]
Real Sociedad won their first home match of the season scoring two goals against a passive Celta defense. Sociedad were strong in their pressing and prevented Celta from playing through the midfield, while constantly posing a threat on the flanks which Celta were not able to deal with. Tactical analysis by Chris Baker. Real Sociedad’s […]
Ernesto Valverde revisited last season’s 4-3-1-2 midfield diamond with four central midfielders, but it was not enough to create good chances against a solid Atlético wall. Diego Costa ended his goal scoring drought amidst a (yet again) dysfunctional Atlético offense, but Dembélé saved the day for Barcelona in the last minute. Tactical analysis by José […]
Santiago Solari’s perfect start as Real Madrid manager was brought to an end by a passionate and intense performance from Eibar. Problems from the Lopetegui era are yet to be solved while their hosts recorded arguably the best result in the history of the club. Tactical analysis by Martyn Davis. Eibar went into this match […]
Celta de Vigo came out to play with one mission in mind – injure as many Real Madrid players as possible. Suffice to say, they succeeded, as Casemiro, Nacho, and Reguilón were all forced to come off hurt, making Madrid’s chaotic, hard-fought victory a pyrrhic one. Though Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari has not had […]
An injured Diego Godín scored an injury time header to complete Atlético’s comeback against Athletic Club. Do not be fooled by the result of this game, neither of these teams had a well-defined offensive game, but at least advantage was taken of the few big chances at hand. Atlético is a strange case to talk […]
Real Sociedad are back to winning ways after a game where they were awful for seventy minutes before Garitano’s astute adjustments helped them to an unexpected but ultimately deserved turnaround. Levante remain a fun offensive team to watch, but their defensive frailties were exposed by the most unlikely of adversaries. Levante and Real Sociedad opened […]
What do you get if you have two teams who actually don’t like having the ball? You get a lot of bad passes, unnecessary lost possession and a first half with just one (!) goal attempt. Real Sociedad against Sevilla was truly a bad game, a pessimist would even call it dreadful. Teams who want […]