Real Madrid 3-3 Manchester City: A tactical battle engulfed in chaos
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Who would be a manager, eh?
Pre-match preparation flung into the air, Manchester City and Real Madrid served up another chaotic Champions League classic — and there was little Carlo Ancelotti or Pep Guardiola could do to calm it down.
Despite a clear counter-attacking plan from the home side and a desire to contain and control from the visitors, a foul and a yellow card for Aurelien Tchouameni after 38 seconds lit the blue touch paper, sending an early shot of adrenaline through 22 ultra-talented footballers sensing the opportunity to have some fun.
An ingenious free kick, a deflected long-range strike, a blistering counter-attack, a left-footed arrow, and then, a centre-back without a goal in 395 days taking a poor touch before wrapping his weak foot around a bouncing ball from 25 yards.
Add to that the sweetest struck volley of a lifetime and a glorious heavyweight contest was taken out of the tacticians’ hands.
Despite the disorientating drama, each manager’s team selections revealed their carefully considered pre-match plans.
For City, Mateo Kovacic came into the team alongside Rodri to help retain the ball against Madrid’s physical midfield presence, while four centre-backs — including the ever-adventurous John Stones — offered endless passing options while also aiming to bring defensive solidity across the back line.
Jack Grealish also started out on the left, a telltale sign of Guardiola’s desire for control.
City’s passing network — densely packed in the middle of the pitch — and the fact Madrid recorded their lowest possession tally in three years (38.7 per cent) illustrates the ideas at play.
Possession only told half the story of a dizzying first half, however, and it was Ancelotti’s rip-roaring forward runners who stole the show.
Split strikers Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior led the line, both sizzling with a game-breaking ability to carry the ball. It meant Madrid were able to hit hard on the counter-attack, with shuttle runners Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde also poised to step forward out of a box midfield and get close to the forwards.
City have displayed weakness in transition this season — no Premier League team have conceded more than their eight goals from fast breaks — and Ancelotti showed ambition to try to exploit that.
Trusting Eduardo Camavinga and Toni Kroos to cover the midfield, they pushed their four most athletic players into the forward line upon sensing the opportunity to nick the ball, as below.
Such a structure allowed the hosts to tear forward in moments of uncertainty. In the first half, they attempted three shots following fast breaks; that’s as many as City have ever faced in a single game with Guardiola in charge.
The first warning came on six minutes after Grealish cut inside and had his effort charged down by three defenders. The ball ricocheted to Antonio Rudiger, who played a searching ball forward, allowing Bellingham and Vinicius Jr to converge on Ruben Dias.
On this occasion, the centre-back gets a vital toe to the ball to prod it back to his goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, but the home side showed their ability to turn defence into attack in seconds.
Just seven minutes later, a similar move saw Madrid take the lead.
Following a patient City attack, Grealish’s outside-of-the-boot cross was caught by Andriy Lunin, who wasted no time in looking to find Vinicius Jr upfield.
Without hesitation, Rodrygo ran in behind, receiving a perfect pass from his team-mate that saw him bear down on Ortega and roll home.
This time, there are 15 seconds between City’s shot and Madrid’s goal.
And again, it was Rodrygo who had the best chance of the half to extend Madrid’s lead.
Another Grealish effort was blocked in the penalty area before Vinicius Jr backheeled the ball into his strike partner’s path.
Within 19 seconds, the Brazilian flashed a shot just past Ortega’s post.
In a half that felt random and stretched, it was calculated risk on the transition that consistently gave Madrid a way out.
Even if it meant Bellingham and Valverde needed to drop deep to help defensively, the ability of the two Brazilians up top to scythe through defensive structures all by themselves always leaves this Madrid team with a chance.
Without making any structural changes at half-time, City managed to stem the counter-attacking tide after the break, easing into the second half with a series of composed passing sequences around defence.
Guardiola’s side struggled to create clear-cut chances, though, as Kroos and Camavinga snapped into tackles in front of the back four to keep City at bay. A handful of harmless shots from distance and a set-piece header from Rodri were all the visitors had to show for their improvement and they would need something special to break through once again.
Foden’s strike on 66 minutes, speared into the top corner from the edge of the box, was precisely that, while Gvardiol’s first City strike five minutes later was as baffling as it was brilliant.
The expected goals (xG) step graph below, illustrating the quality of chances that fell to each team throughout the contest, helps to highlight the clinical edge of both sides in front of goal.
Six scored from a cumulative expected tally of 1.5 — this was a goal-fest all about the goalscorers.
Guardiola may be a permanently animated figure on the touchline, but it is not often you see him celebrate a goal quite like Foden’s last night: hands on the back of his player’s head, roaring into his face; perhaps, just this once, he allowed himself to relish the footballing thrill that his superstar squad can provide.
City rolled with the punches, something they have not always found easy on the Champions League stage, and particularly not against this Madrid side, who have crushed them with miracles before.
The personality on display will please Guardiola and will leave fans confident ahead of a return leg that they won so convincingly last year.
Although, without away goals to contend with, we are back to square one next Wednesday at the Etihad. With these two sides, that will never be a bad thing.
(Top photo: Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
