A couple of thoughts from Real Madrid's incredible win over Bayern

Real Madrid's incredible 4-0 Champions League win over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena  came as quite the shock. Here are two thoughts from Tuesday's game.

1. Real's pace matched up well against Bayern's high line
Bayern enjoy possessing the ball in their opponents half and pushing their fullbacks into advanced areas. When they concede possession they press high up the pitch to win it back and hold a high line. These tactics have the potential to leave a side vulnerable to counterattacks and Real Madrid are the strongest counterattacking side in the world. Real Madrid played a 4-4-1-1, defending with a narrow midfield bank of four and leaving Benzema and Ronaldo higher up the pitch to spring counters. Ronaldo provided an initial outlet pass when Real won the ball back and Angel Di Maria and Gareth Bale broke forward with deep runs from midfield. No other side in the world boasts three players with the combination of pace and technique possessed by Bale, Ronaldo and Di Maria. When they're given space to run into on the break they're virtually unplayable.

From the outset Bayern's high line looked vulnerable. In the 9th minute Neuer was forced out of his box to head a Di Maria ball over the top that nearly put Benzema through on goal. The German keeper scuffed his headed clearance and was fortunate when Bale wasn't able to take advantage, the Welshman putting his volleyed effort at an open net over the bar. The writing was on the wall however. Six minutes later Xabi Alonso won the ball at the edge of his own penalty area and provided an outlet for Ronaldo. He flicked cleverly for Di Maria breaking down the left sideline who played a diagonal ball over the top of Bayern's high line for Benzema. Dante's last ditch tackle prevented Benzema from getting a shot off but it earned Real the corner that Ramos would score the opener from.

With Bayern needing three goals and forced to chase the game, Real were able to maintain their deep, tight defensive positioning and invite pressure before exploiting space in behind the Bayern midfield on the counter. This was a masterclass of organized team defending and lethal counterattacking football highlighted by Real's third goal, one of the best team goals you'll see this season. In Real's penalty box Carvajal, Modric and Pepe all close down on Ribery and force him into a bad pass that falls for Bale at the edge of the penalty area. Bale plays a square pass to Di Maria who finds Benzema breaking into the right channel. This run from Benzema is an intelligent one as he forces Dante into a wide position and leaves a huge gap in the middle of midfield between Dante and his center back partner Jerome Boatening. Bale sprints forward beyond Toni Kroos into this gap and through on goal. He lays a pass to his left for Ronaldo to tuck home for a record setting 15 UCL goals.

 2. Pep Guardiola should not be sacked at Bayern
Following Bayern's treble winning 2012-2013 season, the expectations placed on Guardiola in his first season were always going to be nearly impossible to satisfy. How do you improve a side that won everything?

Things went swimmingly in the league- Bayern remarkably clinched the title with 7 games remaining without having lost up to that point. From there they hit a deep in form, drawing with Hoffenheim before losing consecutive games to Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund. Guardiola deserves criticism for the complacency that set in that quelled momentum and almost certainly contributed to their heavy defeat Tuesday. However, Bayern may yet still win a domestic double as they face Dortmund in the league cup final May 17. I can't help but feel there's something seriously wrong with football culture if a manger gets sacked after winning a double and making a Champions League semifinal in his first season in charge. It was an embarrassing defeat for Bayern but it seems insane to base a managers body of work over the course of a season on one two-legged tie.

Yes he was up against a manager also in his first season but Ancelotti is more flexible in his tactical approach and therefore doesn't require the same length of time to allow his players to adapt to his style. Guardiola by contrast is more rigid in how he requires his sides to play. His approach and the personnel he has used differ from Jupp Heynckes last season and it will therefore take players time to gel into his system. Given time the understanding between manager and players will improve as will performances on the pitch. The big question that may determine Guardiola's future is whether Bayern supporters and the board want to continue to see their club play Guardiola's patient, horizontal possession style. Honorary club president Franz Beckenbauer has on more than one occasion voiced his displeasure at what he views as Guardiola's boring style.

Tactical Analysis: Juventus 2-2 Real Madrid

Juventus and Real Madrid played to a 2-2 draw in Turin this evening in Champions League Group B action.

Both sides had phases of dominance- Juventus controlled the tempo in the first half, earning slightly more possession and creating the much more dangerous scoring opportunities. In the second half Madrid controlled the play.

Both sides opted for 4-3-3 formations (whoscored.com refers to Juve’s formation as a 4-1-4-1 in the graphic below- I’d call it 4-3-3). Xabi Alonso played in front of the back four for Carlo Ancelotti’s side having returned to the Real Madrid lineup Saturday after a lengthy groin injury. Khedira and Modric played the two shuttling roles. Sergio Ramos was given a rare start at right back ahead of Arbeloa with Pepe and Varane playing the center half spots. Iker Casillas was given the start in goal.

The only changes Antonio Conte made to the side that were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid in match week three were to the left side of his defense. Bonucci replaced the red carded Chiellini at left center back while Asamoah was preferred to Ogbona at left back.

 First Half

 Juventus were dangerous down the left wing in the first half. Ronaldo started the game on the right flank but stayed high up the pitch with Benzema when Juventus were in possession. Xabi Alonso, Modric and Khedira kept a tight, narrow defensive shape in the middle and Bale dropped in to defend Juventus’s right flank. With Ronaldo keeping an advanced central position on defense, Juventus were left with space on the left touchline to drift into.

Tevez would drop into this space, forcing Ramos to move into a wide area to close him down and creating a gap between Ramos and his center back Varane. Pogba, who was excellent for Juventus in the first half, continually sprinted in behind Khedira and Real’s midfield line and into the gap between Ramos and Varane. Juventus’s opener came when Juve quickly switched the point of attack from right to left and took advantage of Pogba’s lung-bursting runs into that gap. Llorente received the ball in the middle and played it wide to Tevez. Ramos was forced to close him down towards the touchline. Pogba sprinted in behind the Real Madrid midfield and received a dangerous pass in the penalty area. In his effort to recover Varane dives in and commits a penalty. The screen shot below shows Llorente’s pass in flight to Tevez down the left channel. Notice Ramos being forced to close Tevez down in a wide position and Pogba bursting forward into the open space.

Pogba’s ability to find space behind Khedira to sprint into with the ball was dangerous throughout the half. On 28 minutes he was able to collect a crossfield pass from Vidal behind Khedira inside Juventus’s half. He drove forward toward Ramos who was left to defend Pogba and Tevez 1 v. 2 and slotted the ball wide to Tevez. With time and space, the Argentinian was able to stand up a beautiful ball to the back post for Marchisio who was denied by a world class save from Casillas.

Much of Juve’s dominance in the first half also had to do with the ease with which Pirlo was receiving the ball. Neither Khedira nor Modric stepped forward from their midfield line to press him and Benezema and Ronaldo didn’t drop in to deny passes into him. As a result, Pirlo was able to dictate the tempo and pick out dangerous penetrating passes forward. Pirlo completed 89 passes in the match- more than any other player.

Offensively in the first half, Real Madrid were at their most dangerous on the break. When they recovered possession, they looked to play quick outlet passes to Benzema checking back into midfield. Khedira did well on a number of occasions to quickly break forward and provide Benzema with an option to lay the ball off too. They would then look for Bale and Ronaldo breaking forward in behind the Juventus back four.

 Second Half

Whereas Ronaldo started the game on the right and move around freely in the opening 45 minutes, in the second half he maintained a position wide on the left. Presumably this was because Ancelotti wanted him to exploit the space behind Juventus’s right back Caceres. Throughout the game Caceres had been playing high up the pitch to provide width in attack and therefore leaving space in behind him. In the second half Real Madrid took advantage of that space. Ronaldo’s leveler was the result of a poor back pass from Caceres and not any tactical change. However, Real’s second was indeed a result of the tactical decision to have Ronaldo move into the space behind the right back. With Marcelo receiving the ball on the left wing, Ronaldo made a diagonal run into the left channel behind Caceres. He was spotted by Marcelo, collecting the ball on the flank and finding Bale making a run to the edge of the penalty area. Bale still had plenty to do and his finish was excellent but goal was the result of Real bypassing the Juve midfield by finding Ronaldo free in the left channel.

The big tactical weakness Ronaldo creates for Real Madrid when he’s employed on the left is his reluctance to track the opposition fullback. For Juventus’s equalizer, Caceres was able to receive the ball on the wing with Ronaldo nowhere near him. He had the time to have a look in the box and pick out a cross and found Llorente with a delicious outswinging cross. Varane probably deserves the bulk of the blame for the goal- his defending on Llorente was poor- but Cacares was given too much time and space and the wing to play the ball in. 

Conclusion

The 2-2 scoreline was probably a fair result though Iker Casillas was the busier of the two keepers. Real Madrid still don't look an entirely fluid side. In a 4-3-3 without a #10, their front three and midfield three at times looks disjointed. 

Juventus's drop off between the first half, when they were much the better side, and the early stages of the second half was surprising. They seemed shell shocked by Ronaldo's leveler and never really regained they form they showed in the first half. Copenhagen's win over Galatasaray in Group B's other game meant the draw wasn't a bad result in the end. Juve sit a point behind Copenhagen and Galatasaray in the battle for second and will play both of those sides in the final two fixtures.