Real Madrid – Manchester City: Los Blancos Won The Performance, Lost The Match (1-2)

It was do or die for Real Madrid against Manchester City. Los Blancos’ solid performance wasn’t enough to prevent the loss. Defensive mistakes and lack of efficiency in front of the goal tipped the scales in favor of Guardiola’s men in a game in which both teams appeared vulnerable in counterattacks.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

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Real Madrid edged past Athletic Club at San Mames, ending a three-game win drought. After a long period away from Bernabéu, Los Blancos returned to their turf with the hope of a victory against Celta Vigo in front of the fans. Nonetheless, it was a slap in the face for the white team. Xabi Alonso’s quote, “With 11 we worked less than with 10, at least then we started running,” shed light on what Real Madrid lacked against Celta Vigo. When it rains, it pours. Éder Militão was another player to be added to Real Madrid’s injury list as he tore his hamstring, and he will be out until April. Not only that, but Kylian Mbappé was also sidelined as he fractured his ring finger on his right hand and had discomfort in his left knee following a knock.

Manchester City capitalized on Arsenal’s draw against Chelsea and defeat to Aston Villa to reduce the difference to two points in the Premier League. The Citizens headed toward the Bernabéu with a loss against Bayer Leverkusen that saw them out of the top eight in the UEFA Champions League. Pep Guardiola’s team was winless in the last four visits to Real Madrid’s stadium. Back in the 2021-22 season, Manchester City was dramatically eliminated from the semi-final, followed by two consecutive draws at Bernabéu and a loss that highlighted Manchester City’s crisis in the 2024-25 season.

Xabi Alonso relied on Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asencio in the middle of the defense. Federico Valverde and Alvaro Carreras acted as fullbacks. Dani Ceballos joined Aurelien Tchouaméni and Jude Bellingham in midfield. Vinicius Junior hugged the touchlines on the left wing, and Rodrygo on the right. Gonzalo Garcia replaced Kylian Mbappé.

Pep Guardiola started with Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, and Nico O’Reilly at the backline. Nico Gonzalez sat at the base of midfield with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden on his side. Jeremy Doku operated as a left winger, with Ryan Cherki drifting infield on the right side. Erling Haaland led the attack.

Real Madrid’s counterattacks

From the get-go, Manchester City revealed their vulnerability in transitions. In the middle of the park, Nico O’Reilly’s backward pass to Josko Gvardiol triggered Gonzalo Garcia and Vinicius Junior to swarm around the Croatian center-back, stripping the ball away from him to initiate the transition. In the central channel, Vinicius Junior ignored Valverde’s overlap, opting for sliding a through ball to Gonzalo Garcia, who ran between Ruben Diaz and Matheus Nunes. However, Gvardiol intercepted Vinicius’ pass, regaining possession, which stimulated the hosts to counterpress. Bellingham and Gonzalo Garcia pounced on Bernardo Silva, dispossessing him and setting Vinicius Junior in a one-on-one situation against Matheus Nunes. The latter was forced to foul the former at the edge of the box.

Real Madrid sat in a 4-4-2 compact, low block, seizing the opportunity to regain possession and counterattack, exploiting Nico O’Reilly’s advanced position. Six minutes in, the English left back underlapped Jeremy Doku, playing the ball across to Rayan Cherki, coming from behind. Carreras acted before the French international, picking out Dani Ceballos. The visitors’ interdistances were too large to apply any sort of counterpressure, allowing Ceballos to find Vinicius Junior, who squared the ball toward the right side. There, Gonzalo Garcia tied Gvardiol with Rodrygo, free to embark on a sprint and roll the ball across to Vinicius Junior on the far post. The Brazilian continued to squander easy chances.

Manchester City on-ball dynamics

In possession, Manchester City lined up in a 3-1-3-3 formation, wherein Bernardo Silva hugged the touchlines on the right, Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly swung between operating wide and drifting infield, joining Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden inside. Erling Haaland had to battle against Real Madrid’s center-backs. The visitors tended to expand the space between Valverde and Asencio, relying on the wide option in pinning Real Madrid right back and Haaland’s lateral movements to drag the hosts’ backline across. Not only that, but also Cherki and Foden darted across and dropped deep toward the right to enable late runners to exploit Real Madrid’s stretched lines.

13th minute: Ruben Diaz carries the ball around Vinicius Junior. Doku pins Valverde on the left, Haaland drags Asencio across, and Cherki draws Rudiger’s attention. Tchouaméni and Bellingham cover the right inside channel with Ceballos tracking Foden. O’Reilly looks to attack the space between Valverde and Asencio. However, Rodrygo works his way back, and Asencio retreats to prevent O’Reilly from capitalizing on Diaz’s service.

In deep buildup, Manchester City maintained the same shape. Depending on the situation, Rodrygo and Gonzalo Garcia swapped positions, with one of them joining Vinicius Junior to monitor Gvardiol and Diaz. By doing so, the white team funnelled the play toward the flanks, allowing Bellingham to jump on Nunes. Tchouaméni and Ceballos followed Cherki/Bernardo Silva and Foden, obliging Matheus Nunes to pass to Manchester City’s wide option. From there, the visitors tended to curl the ball back inside to Haaland. However, Rudiger stepped up on time.

After regaining the ball, Valverde and Carreras hugged the touchlines, with Rodrygo having the license to roam. The latter invited pressure from Manchester City’s midfield line to stretch the Citizens vertically and find Bellingham between the lines. The pair exchanged passes to access Vinicius Junior around Matheus Nunes. The Brazilian winger ignored Carreras, drove toward the byline, and cut the ball back into Nunes’ body.

Drag City to the right and progress via switches toward the left

Out of possession, Manchester City pressed in a 4-4-2 diamond fashion, in which Bernardo Silva pushed on centrally to mark Ceballos, with Haaland and Foden on Real Madrid’s center-backs. Behind, Jeremy Doku remained close to Rodrygo down the left inside channel, with Nico Gonzalez swinging across in a zonal role. On the far side, Cherki narrowed inside, keeping close tabs on Tchouaméni. Near the touchlines, O’Reilly jumped onto Valverde with the rest of the backline shuffling across.

19th minute: Real Madrid’s buildup sequence. As the play goes wide, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva withdraw to block off access toward Ceballos and Tchouaméni. As a result, Asencio remains free to switch the ball toward Real Madrid’s free option on the opposite side. The visitors move Manchester City’s block across to isolate Rodrygo on the right side.

Keeping Nico Gonzalez as an extra player and pressing high up the pitch with a minus one paved the road for Real Madrid to find solutions and progress. With Rodrygo dropping deeper and attracting Foden’s attention Ceballos stepping back and enticing Doku to press, the White team had Asencio as the free man to pick out Valverde. Additionally, the latter took advantage of the large distance O’Reilly had to cover to launch the switch toward Carreras.

Twenty-seven minutes later, defensive compactness enabled Real Madrid to neutralize Manchester City’s offensive threat. To elaborate, the Citizens relied on Doku nudging the ball forward to push Valverde backward and then exploding to play the ball across. Nonetheless, the hosts’ narrow vertical shape allowed them to intercept Doku’s cutback. Ceballos cleared the ball to Carreras, who bypassed Bernardo Silva, scampering forward and prodding the ball inside to Gonzalo Garcia. Committing numbers in attack vacated the middle of the park for Garcia and Bellingham to work the ball to the right side. The English midfielder set Rodrygo around O’Reilly to fire a shot home.

Both teams are vulnerable in counters

On the right side, Manchester City replicated similar dynamics that occurred on the left side. When Rayan Cherki stayed behind, Matheus Nunes pushed forward, attacking the space between Rudiger and Carreras, who took charge of Bernardo Silva near the flanks. Nunes’ underlap permitted his compatriot to find him. However, the latter’s cross didn’t find targets, as Valverde collected the loose ball to launch the counterattack. Valverde dribbled past O’Reilly, meeting Rodrygo on his way, who took the play to the left side. From there, Carreras clipped the ball to Gonzalo Garcia, allowing Real Madrid to attack in a three-versus-three situation. Vinicius Junior picked out Bellingham around Ruben Diaz. The latter blocked off the former square pass.

The space behind Manchester City’s fullbacks was at a premium for Real Madrid to draw an advantage. In addition, the Citizens 3+1 rest defense wasn’t enough to halt Los Blancos’ transition, as Rodrygo’s central position allowed him to double up on Nico Gonzalez. Thirty-eight minutes in, Vinicius Junior dispossessed Matheus Nunes in the middle of the park. Nico Gonzalez shifted to shut down the Brazilian, who fed Rodrygo near the halfway line. Gonzalo Garcia pushed Manchester City’s center-backs backward to vacate the space between the lines for Rodrygo to carry. Meanwhile, Bellingham attacked the space behind the Citizens’ right back, waiting for Vinicius Junior’s in-depth run to slide the through ball. However, the Englishman’s pass was overhit.

Real Madrid’s tight shape out of possession drove the visitors to work the ball around to Jeremy Doku, putting him in one-on-one situations. With five minutes left in the first half, O’Reilly drew Rodrygo’s attention down the left half-space, and Valverde got isolated against Doku. A miscommunication between Valverde and Rodrygo enabled the Belgian winger to set O’Reilly near the byline. The latter crossed the ball at the edge of the six-yard box. Meanwhile, Rudiger pushed Haaland down, driving the referee to award a penalty kick to the visitors.

Five minutes later, Rodrygo’s free kick landed in Donnarumma’s hands. The Italian goalkeeper released Doku behind Ceballos. Alvaro Carreras was forced to shift across, which expanded the distance between him and Valverde. Enter O’Reilly, who outpaced Ceballos in the process to attack the space behind. Similar to Carreras, Valverde found himself obliged to sweep across to stop City’s left back. That left Rodrygo overloaded at the far post by Foden and Haaland. The former dragged Rodrygo rearward, evacuating the space for Haaland to shoot O’Reilly’s square pass. Courtois, with back-to-back saves, denied Haaland and Cherki’s deliveries.

Both teams buildup

In deep buildup, Real Madrid’s center-backs split wide, with Courtois taking position in the middle. With Haaland being close to Rudiger, Foden remained outnumbered, allowing Tchouaméni to bounce the pass off to Asencio. Jeremy Doku jumped onto the Spanish center-back. That saw Ceballos targeting the Belgian blindside to receive Asencio’s pass and access Valverde near the touchlines. As aforementioned, the White team moved Manchester City toward the ball side to enter the opposite side with switches. Vinicius Junior’s and Gonzalo Garcia’s runs drag the visitors toward their goal. On the far side, Rodrygo and Carreras strolled in free spaces. However, Valverde’s switches lacked accuracy.

Out of possession, Gonzalo Garcia cut off the passing lane between Donnarumma and Ruben Diaz, whereas Rodrygo, marking Gvardiol, forced the Citizens to clip long balls. Erling Haaland came from Rudiger’s blindside to tower over the German center-back and head the ball down to Bernardo Silva. The latter took advantage of Bellingham shifting his attention toward the aerial duel zone to collect the second ball and release Doku on the left. The hosts withdrew with Asencio and Valverde doubling up on Doku, whose cross was cleared by Rudiger.

50th minute: Manchester City’s buildup. Nico O’Reilly tucks inside instead of pushing on down the left half-space. Doku pins Valverde inside, allowing Foden to move deeper and receive outside the block. Valverde jumps on Foden, leaving Doku to attack the space between the right back and center-back. Doku cuts inside and prods the ball across onto Bernardo Silva. However, Carreras pounces on time.

Seconds later, Alvaro Carreras picked up the ball, dribbled past Phil Foden and Nico Gonzalez to gallop forward and feed Vinicius Junior behind Matheus Nunes. The former cut the ball across toward the right side. Manchester City’s late retreat in the counterattack left Nico O’Reilly overloaded at the far post. Therefore, Rodrygo was able to release Bellingham in front of Donnarumma. Nevertheless, Bellingham blasted it over.

Both teams were exposed in counterattacks. Half an hour gone, Donnarumma picked up Carreras’ cross on the left side. Real Madrid’s backline didn’t back Valverde up, who jumped to press City’s goalkeeper, which allowed the latter to isolate Doku against Asencio. Jeremy Doku kept nudging the ball forward until he penetrated the box, cut inside, and fired a shot toward the far post. Thibaut Courtois stretched his arms to clear the ball out.

Real Madrid’s last attempts

Manchester City defended in a 4-4-2 diamond shape, swinging between low and low-medium block. After Ceballos’ substitution, Arda Guler became the player to step behind. Real Madrid won the numbers game as City’s front two marked the opposite center-backs with Bernardo Silva on Tchouaméni. That forced Doku to leave Valverde and jump onto Guler, who clipped the ball over the top for runners behind Manchester City’s backline.

Vinicius Junior, Endrick, Brahim Diaz, and Bellingham marked Manchester City’s front four, blocking off central access. Arda Guler and Rodrygo ran toward Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders with Real Madrid’s back four monitoring the visitors’ front three. As a response, Ruben Diaz broke down the hosts’ lines, putting Savinho in an isolated situation against Carreras. The latter won his duel and picked out Bellingham on the right inside channel. Valverde sprinting behind Doku gave the English a free option to find. However, Gvardiol cleared Valverde’s cross.

84th minute: Courtois, standing between the center-backs, overloads Manchester City’s front two. Bellingham and Guler outnumber Bernardo Silva. Courtois picks out Bellingham, who carries forward toward the right side. The English midfielder dribbles past Bernardo Silva at the edge of the box, exchanging passes with Valverde to set up Endrick, whose first touch fails him to put enough power in the shot.

Seconds later, Real Madrid regained the ball, and Tchouaméni switched the play to the left side, where Vinicius Junior and Alvaro Carreras overloaded Matheus Nunes. Real Madrid’s left back collected the second ball and crossed it into Endrick’s head. The nineteen-year-old hit the woodwork.

With four minutes left until the end of regulation time, Valverde found Bellingham on an island with Savinho, yet to recover his position. Vinicius Junior scampered forward with Manchester City withdrawing toward the ball side. That saw Nico O’Reilly getting outnumbered by Endrick and Brahim Diaz. Vinicius Junior rolled the ball across to his compatriot with Rodrygo pinning Gvadiol. Brahim Diaz was free in space around the far post and ready to receive Endrick’s pass. Nonetheless, the latter opted for clipping it behind the defense. Ruben Diaz towered over Vinicius Junior to clear the danger away.

Takeaways

Real Madrid lost their second game in a row at the Bernabéu. Nevertheless, the performance was night and day from the one delivered against Celta Vigo. Xabi Alonso’s team was solid in defending in a compact low block, seizing the opportunity to pounce on the counterattack. Los Blancos created many chances from such situations; however, players lacked efficiency in front of the net.

Manchester City’s win over Real Madrid promoted them to fourth place in the UCL standings. Pep Guardiola wasn’t convinced by his team’s performance and admitted that the victory at Bernabéu is not an easy mission to fulfill and that the Citizens must improve their level to be able to compete and advance to the final stages of the competition.

Match plots will be added soon.