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Oct 18, 2010

Real Madrid vs Milan, Tactically Different…

By Mohamed Smaili

AC Milan of Massimiliano Allegri and Real Madrid of Jose Mourinho began the season with very definite ideas about their tactical strategies... but on Tuesday, that pattern will change.

Los Merenges with their 4-2-3-1, Higuain supported by a line of three midfielders (Cristiano Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria)… while the Rossoneri were betting on ex-coach Leonardo’s 4-3-3 with Ronnie and Pato on the left and right but with a big difference of Ibrahimovic conducting the attack.

By judging those weekend's games, it is possible that they both slip away from this pattern a bit in the clash of Tuesday for the Champion's League in Bernabeu. Keeping the pieces but changing the approach.

On the ride through Malaga, Real Madrid had Ronaldo and Higuain working more like an attacking duo. In some kind of 4-1-3-2, Di Maria was called-up on the left and Khedira covering up the right side of the pitch while Alonso was responsible for marking in front of the defense.

The combinations on the same side between Di Maria and Ronaldo with eventual support of Marcelo gave nice results, and the aggressive flow of Real Madrid's attack came very easily. So much that Ronaldo was the protagonist of the game, participating in all four goals, scoring twice and assisting Higuain twice. It's worth noticing his growing understanding with team-play-maker Ozil.

Although the repetition of the effectiveness of this strategy against Milan is more of a hypothesis than fact, to prey on the decaying Zambrotta can be a great alternative for Mourinho's men.

Allegri on the other hand, has been trying to change the formation of the offensive trident with a 4-3-1-2… basically changing Ronaldinho's positioning to act behind Pato and Ibra more freely, instead of being restricted to the left flank. That's how it was in the 3-1 over Chievo, with Pato scoring twice, both assisted by the towering Swedish.

More than favoring Ronaldinho, the change actually helps the two strikers who already have complementary characteristics and takes advantage of the space left by one to the other. The trio of midfielders work very similar to the Ancelotti times, highlighting the comeback of Gattuso, who was not too convincing in the Leonardo era.

Robinho, as expected, is only a valid option on the bench. Let’s forget the delirious ideas of a quartet that would only work in video games, unbalancing a team that already suffers to find defensive consistency. A quality which Mourinho almost guarantees in his teams, this gives a slight advantage to Real on Tuesday.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gattuso is finally doing what he does best... Since he began trying to participate in the build up of Milan's game he couldnt mark and move he use to

Unknown said...

excellent i like it

Anonymous said...

You mentioned at least the key factor for Milan is to attack the weak side of Marcelo, this is what helped them against Chievo with Antoninis Passes and runs..They must attack, but another factor but for Madrid is the home field advantage and how Mourinho will learn from last years mistakes and keep the attacking and patience on the field

Markus said...

It's true marcelo's defending skills are very limited but antonini's attacking ones are not something to bet on since Milan still has defending problems...

Anonymous said...

nice done, bt lets nt forget sth tht is becomin quite a fact, the special one never lost at home;)

Barhoum said...

you are talking pure logic mohammed and its 100% right.Its gonna be a very nice game since both teams have good results in their leagues and both have super squads so..... let the best team win(hopefully REAL MADRID)......

Serene said...

Very well said, I liked it

Anonymous said...

very accurate analysis of what the game will be. as we could all see, real did take control over most of the game and clearly found balance between defense and offense with their new coach, Jose Mourinho

Alawooz said...

excellent analysis...looking forward to reading more articles.