Real Betis – Real Madrid: Ramos From The Spot Once Again Seals The Deal For Madrid In A Breathless Affair (2-3)

Catch your breath if you can in this one: red cards, penalties, goals, own goals, tactical adjustments and everything a fan can hope for came into play for this quite sensational five-goal thriller, which really could have tipped so much further in the visitor’s direction.
Tactical analysis and match report by Peter Munnelly.

Entering the ring with the same eleven bar two from the side that beat Real Valladolid 2-0 at home last Sunday, the hosts were two for two under the new boss Manuel Pellegrini. Those changes came at the top and bottom, as Joel Robles was restored to his starting position between the sticks, and up top Antonio Sanabria replaced Borja Iglesias. 

The rest of Pellegrini’s 4-2-3-1 system, which once again featured Joaquín, Nabil Fekir and Sergio Canales playing behind the center-forward, kept its place in attack.

Zinédine Zidane’s opening test, away at Real Sociedad, posed a tricky task that the Frenchman’s side could not overcome, as the team named a few different names in midfield and attack in their goalless draw at the Reale Arena..

While Toni Kroos, Martin Ødegaard and Karim Benzema kept their places in the first eleven, Casemiro, Fede Valverde and Luka Jović all entered the eleven to form an initial diamond setup, persisting of the same back-four and goalkeeper as was put out in the last match.

Real’s controlled chaos proves to be overwhelming for Betis
In Zidane’s 4-4-2 diamond shape, positional orientations were the key to success. With much of the buildup play stemming from the left, Kroos was able to become something of a focal . . .

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Peter (20), lives just outside of London. He’s been writing about tactics and such for over a year now, contributing to a couple of sites during that time. His main club is Arsenal but he’s also followed Real Betis quite heavily since Quique Setién took over last year. This form of writing has become a great passion of his and, although he’s unsure of what his end aim is, he’s enjoying being given new opportunities to continue doing so. [ View all posts ]

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