Real Madrid – Athletic Club: LaLiga Is Still On The Line (1-0)

It was mandatory for Real Madrid to deliver against Athletic Club after Arsenal kicked them out of their beloved competition. Carlo Ancelotti’s team was stagnant, passive, and unable to find gaps within the visitors’ block in the first half. Nevertheless, with more dynamism in the second, Real Madrid funneled through Athletic Club, but efficiency lacked until Valverde pulled off one of his rockets to secure the three in injury time.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

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Misfortunes never come alone. Real Madrid hit rock bottom when Arsenal kicked them out of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal. Subpar performances at the Emirates Stadium and Santiago Bernabéu put Vinícius Júnior and Co. under scrutiny, as their individual brilliance has been fading and waning to produce what the fans were accustomed to. Not only did the players take the blame, but Carlo Ancelotti has been put under severe criticism for his inability to make this group of elite cogs play football as a team.

In fact, since the start of the season, Los Blancos have failed to introduce themselves in a clear identity in and out of possession. Off-ball cracks were everywhere, as disharmony, lethargy, and nonchalance prevailed over unity when the team was defending. In possession, Real Madrid relied on the players’ individual moments to grab victories. However, it wasn’t enough due to injuries, a lack of direction, and a drop in form. That instantly brought news to the scene that Real Madrid board plans to change the staff in the dugout. Xabi Alonso is the most favored name to steer the ship.

Mathematically, Athletic Club secured a spot to return to the UEFA Champions League. Not only that, but Ernesto Valverde has led the Basque team to the semifinal of the Europa League. Nico Williams has been the funnel through which Athletic Club’s offensive threat comes. Nevertheless, he picked up a groin injury, which will see him miss the clash against Real Madrid. To add insult to injury, Athletic Club still monitors his situation, hoping he can recover to join the team to play against Manchester United in the Europa League.

Ernesto Valverde played with a 4-2-3-1 on paper. Andoni Gorosabel and Adama Boiro operated as fullbacks, with Unai Núñez and Aitor Paredes at the center of defense. Beñat Prados and Mikel Vesga sat in the middle of the park. Álvaro Djaló and Unai Gómez flanked the striker Gorka Guruzeta, who played in front of Alex Berenguer.

With Mbappé’s one-game suspension, Carlo Ancelotti resorted to old lineups. A diamond 4-4-2 in which Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde filled the fullback spots, and Antonio Rüdiger kept his partnership with Raúl Asencio. Aurélien Tchouaméni sat at the base of the diamond, with Dani Ceballos and Luka Modrić on his sides. Ahead, Jude Bellingham completed the diamond shape, with Vinícius Júnior and Rodygo leading the attack.

Real Madrid versus a low compact block

Ernesto Valverde instructed his team to retreat, narrowing their lines to limit Real Madrid’s offensive waves. Most of Real Madrid’s attacks came from wide areas. The telos was to isolate Vinícius Júnior in one-versus-one situations against Andoni Gorosabel.

To do so, Dani Ceballos joined the backline, allowing Camavinga to advance down the left-inside channel, with Jude Bellingham having the freedom to roam depending on the situation. On the left side, the English midfielder tended to swing back and forth to support the advanced buildup. Bellingham’s deeper movement on the left tied Beñat Prados’ hands, and Camavinga, when inverted, pinned Unai Núñez inside. That allowed Vinícius Júnior to be isolated against the visitors’ right back.

On the right side, Real Madrid followed similar patterns to the left. Luka Modrić and Federico Valverde alternated positions in the middle third in order to soak up pressure on Rodrygo near the flanks. When arriving at the final third, the trio tended to rotate and combine in order to generate qualitative crossing situations.

16th minute: Real Madrid’s advanced buildup sequence. Ceballos acts as a situational left back; Camavinga pushes up, drifting infield, pinning the winger Álvaro Djaló. As a result, Ceballos has space to carry the ball onward. As the latter pushes up, Djaló blocks off the passing lane to disable access toward Vinícius Júnior. As a reaction, Ceballos finds Bellingham sneaking between the lines through whom the Brazilian winger could be accessed, passing by Camavinga.

Athletic Club appeared more than comfortable ceding possession. On the other side, Real Madrid looked passive while circulating the ball. Vinícius Júnior narrowed inside, leaving room for Camavinga to advance wide. Rodrygo had the freedom to stroll across the pitch. Hence, he joined the left side, swapping positions between Camavinga and his compatriot. Despite all the ball combinations, Real Madrid had failed to threaten the visitors’ box.

When Camavinga stood still as a left back, Ceballos took the latter’s position inside Athletic Club’s block. The same mechanism replicated itself to isolate Vinícius Júnior against Gorosabel. The Brazilian winger attempted to surge forward, attacking the byline to deliver crosses or cutbacks. Nonetheless, his services went down the drain as they didn’t meet the hosts’ feet inside the box. In addition, Bellingham and Rodrygo intended to run behind the visitors’ backline. However, Ernesto Valverde’s side was able to deal with Real Madrid’s passes over the top, taking advantage of the home team’s lateness in releasing the pass.

Los Blancos tried to overload the left side and isolate Rodrygo on the right in an attempt to shift the visitors’ block across and pick out Rodrygo via switches or swift ball combinations.

33rd minute: Athletic Club defends in a 4-4-2 low block. Real Madrid clusters the play on the left to switch it toward the right via lateral and quick ball passes. Federico Valverde drifting inside between the lines allows Tchouaméni to feed him and pick out Rodrygo at the edge of the box. The latter crashes the box and squares a pass. However, Aitor Paredes blocks off the ball’s path.

Off-ball movements were key components to free space inside Athletic Club block. On the right side, Rodrygo moved inside, and Luka Modrić drifted wide, pulling out the left back Adama Boiro. That vacated the flank for Bellingham to operate in and collect passes. In the meantime, Rodrygo shifted wide, dragging with him Alex Berenguer and freeing the inside for Bellingham to dart into. Tchouaméni penetrated the box from behind. However, a miscommunication between the latter and Bellingham prevented Real Madrid from threatening the visitors.

Same intentions but different Real Madrid

Both teams entered the second half with the same perspective. Nevertheless, Real Madrid increased the rhythm of the game, accompanied by off-ball runs to open up gaps within the visitors’ lines.

On the left, Camavinga operated wide high up the pitch, with Vinícius Júnior drifting infield. The former pulled Gorosabel out of his position to enable the Brazilian winger to dart behind Athletic Club’s right back. By doing so, Vinícius Júnior dragged Unai Núñez across, allowing Camavinga to run down the left-inside channel.

47th minute: Camavinga draws Gorosabel’s attention with Vinícius Júnior pinning Unai Núñez. As a result, Rodrygo, who joins the crew on the left, is able to dash wide. Unai Núñez shifts wide with Gorosabel to outnumber Rodrygo. As a consequence, Beñat Prados gets overloaded by Camavinga and Vinícius Júnior. Real Madrid’s trio penetrates the box, threading passes.

Real Madrid aimed at catching the visitors off guard in a counterattack. Three minutes into the second half, Athletic Club gathered the play on the hosts’ right side. Valverde cleared the ball away toward the left side. Vinícius Júnior dropped deeper, drawing Gorosabel with him, and set free Camavinga with a backheel pass. The latter galloped the length of the pitch, bypassing Unai Núñez to fire a shot. However, Unai Simón saved his team from conceding.

Aurélian Tchouaméni leaned toward the left to overload the ball side, attempting to work the ball out, connecting passes with Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior, and Camavinga in order to target Bellingham’s late runs toward the far post.

The English midfielder had the license to roam; thus, he often hugged the touchlines on the right, allowing Antonio Rüdiger to find him using diagonal long passes. That saw Bellingham take advantage of isolated situations against Adama Boiro and deliver crosses.

Endrick arrival served well Bellingham as a second striker

Endrick came on for Dani Ceballos. Therefore, Luka Modrić stepped behind Athletic Club on the left. Jude Bellingham moved across in the left-inside channel, joining Camavinga and Vinícius Júnior. The trio leaned across, vacating the route for Modrić to carry the ball through the visitors’ block and slice open Athletic Club’s defense with a through ball to Endrick, who let the Croatian service go down the drain.

Real Madrid committed more players forward with an hour gone. Rodrygo fed Luka Modrić and attacked the box, pushing the visitors block backward and leaving Vinícius Júnior free near the touchlines to whip a Trivela into Bellingham, whose header was cleared by Unai Simón.

With Bellingham operating behind Endrick and Rodrygo camping on the left side, Valverde was isolated on the right, ready to receive switches. Instead of crossing, he tended to cut inside, crashing the box and pulling off one of his rockets.

Athletic Club relentlessly defended in a 4-4-2 low and compact block. As time elapsed, Real Madrid infiltrated through the visitors’ block. With Bellingham pinning Unai Núñez, Vinícius Júnior shifted wide, dragging Gorosabel with him. That stretched the distance between Athletic Club’s center-back and right back for Camavinga to slide an inside diagonal pass to the Brazilian winger, who swiftly sprinted around his men to attack the byline and find Bellingham around the penalty spot. The visiting team kept clearing and blocking Real Madrid’s attempts to score.

The home team put more emphasis on the left wing to arrive at the box. It came through Camavinga dummy, underlapping runs to evacuate the inside channel for Vinícius Júnior to drive infield and curl crosses. Or, the Frenchman stood still behind to clip balls over the top for the Brazilian winger, who found routes behind Athletic Club’s backline.

Real Madrid reminisced about their glorious days as the Remontada godfathers in injury time. A wide combination between Lucas Vázquez, Brahim Diaz, and Federico Valverde allowed the home team to penetrate the box and particularly enabled Valverde to fire a screamer into the left corner of the net.

Takeaways

In the first half, Athletic Club successfully fulfilled the mission of keeping Real Madrid away from their box. Carlo Ancelotti’s team was passive, circulating the ball across the pitch. The white team put more effort into attacking Ernesto Valverde’s men from the left side through Vinícius Júnior’s individual brilliance. However, his crosses and cutbacks went unnoticed and failed to meet targets in the box.

After Endrick’s arrival, Real Madrid improved their display, especially Bellingham, who took advantage of the eighteen-year-old’s ability to pin the visitors’ center-backs to arrive late in the box and collect crosses. Nonetheless, the hosts were not clinical enough to put the game to bed until Valverde put his signature to secure the three points and keep his team’s hopes alive.

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