Quick Hits: the Real Madrid enigma

Why did they collapse?

Hi and welcome to another Quick Hit. The big game this week was obviously Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid. I’m writing a longer article on Man City, so let’s just focus on the Real Madrid side of the story today.

We know Carlo Ancelotti’s blueprint for these Champions League knockout games. We’ve seen it work many times. They’ll sit deep and try to contain, then kill the opponent in a few big moments on the counter. Sometimes they only really need to play well for 20 minutes. Across 13 Champions League knockout matches during Ancelotti’s second spell at the club, Madrid have averaged 46% possession. During the first 20 minutes at the Etihad, it felt like another one of those games: City would have all of the ball and camp out in Real Madrid’s half, but Madrid would get a few huge opportunities on the counter to steal the tie.

And then it just… didn’t happen.

A lot of that is about Man City’s structure. When the home team lost the ball, they covered the space of the opposition half so well that Madrid just couldn’t play their way out. You could see Madrid try to build out from the back, realise there were no good passing options, and just revert to Thibaut Courtois booting it up the pitch and into nowhere. The plan was to play it out in slick transition moves, but City pressed and covered the space so well that they couldn’t find the passes.

We all know Real Madrid believe in putting players before tactics, so they usually solve a system problem with an individual solution. Luka Modrić has been a cheat code at playing through a press like this in the past, with his generation-defining ball control in tight spaces to work through the midfield and find those passes. Modrić apparently wasn’t completely fit, which at least justifies his stinker on Wednesday night. But Madrid should not be this reliant on a 37-year-old midfielder, even one as brilliant as Modrić.

Another brilliant midfielder, Paul Scholes, once had a similar moment in his career. “I should have realised”, he explained, “that the very fact I was still playing for [Manchester] United at 38 years old was a sign that there was not enough pressure on us senior players from those coming into the side”. Scholes retired in 2013 and Man Utd obviously haven’t won a league title since. I don’t think the situation is anything like that at Real Madrid, a club with exciting young talents throughout the squad. But for this supposed youth revolution, you’d think they’d have found an answer for how to cope when Modrić isn’t fully fit.

Mario Cortegana reports that Real Madrid are not currently intending to replace Ancelotti. I think that’s the right call. Unless they want to totally change course and hire a “system” coach, they won’t find someone better at this than Ancelotti. I saw some suggest this season means Madrid have gone too far with an emphasis on youth, and should refocus on experienced players. My view is the exact opposite. If Real are to continue this player-first approach, they need to find fresh individual solutions to matches like this. Perhaps Jude Bellingham can come in and become the heir to Modrić? Perhaps they’re making another play for Kylian Mbappé? I don’t know. But the answers are in looking forward.

Ten years ago, Barcelona looked totally unique with their possession-focused tactical identity. But, as John Muller explained, that approach is now the norm in football, and Barça feel like everyone else. Madrid, by contrast, now seem distinct and refreshing just by staying the same against the tide of Barçafication. I don’t think they should ditch that. But if the approach is to work, they need to keep refreshing those individuals and move past the era of Modrić and Toni Kroos.