LaLiga
Real Madrid – Villarreal: Mourinho’s second-half changes rescue a blunt Madrid (1–0)
Real Madrid defeated Villarreal 1–0 in a match that exposed Madrid’s difficulties in building from the back before José Mourinho’s second-half adjustments transformed their attacking structure.
Atlético Madrid – Real Madrid: Riyadh Air Metropolitano Became A Curse For Los Blancos (2-1)
The Metropolitano stadium remained a tough nut to crack for Real Madrid. José Mourinho approached the game as an underdog and reaped the underdog result. Real
Sevilla – Barcelona: Rodri and Raphinha help Barça overcome Sevilla’s man-oriented press (1–3)
Barcelona overcame a difficult first half against Sevilla to win three-one away from home, with Sevilla’s man-oriented midfield press initially disrupting Barça’s possession and creating dangerous
Villarreal – Real Betis: Villarreal’s aggressive approach comes back to haunt them (1–2)
Villarreal and Real Betis produced a game of contrasting tactical approaches, with Iñigo Pérez’s aggressive pressing and attacking structure causing Betis significant problems before becoming the
Real Sociedad – Atlético Madrid: Late Goals Secured The Three Points For Simeone’s Side (0-3)
Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid’s overloads allowed both teams to break down each other’s out-of-possession setups. However, Matarazzo and Simeone’s sides failed to work the ball
Real Betis – Real Madrid: Betis complicates Madrid’s build-up and punish their attacking imbalance (1–0)
Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the new Mourinho era as Real Betis combined an aggressive high press with a disciplined second-half low block to
Sevilla – Atlético Madrid: Simeone’s positional deception dismantles Sevilla’s defensive references (1–3)
Atlético de Madrid produced one of their most tactically distinctive performances under Diego Simeone, using Alex Baena and Kang-in Lee as false reference points to manipulate
Barcelona – Athletic Club: The Catalans’ Utter Domination (2-0)
Sitting in a medium block against Barcelona is a one-way ticket to disaster. Edin Terzic didn’t learn his lesson from Barcelona’s 5-0 thrashing against Elche. In
Real Madrid – Real Sociedad: Mourinho’s Madrid overwhelm Sociedad after Matarazzo’s plan collapses (4–1)
Real Sociedad’s carefully designed approach gave them control for periods in the first half, as Rino Matarazzo exploited Real Madrid’s narrow defensive structure and repeatedly created
Atlético Madrid – Villarreal: Late Drama At Metropolitano (2-2)
Villarreal and Atlético Madrid’s out-of-possession trade-offs allowed both teams to find routes to each other’s penalty boxes. The Submarines generated the most threat during the passive