On Tuesday, Real Madrid faces a European giant that has won the Champions League seven times, the second most of any European side, after them, the kings of the competition.
Over the last few games, we’ve seen Real Madrid struggle to create clear-cut chances in front of goal. Most of Real Madrid’s goals this season have come from individual moments of brilliance from key players. Italian sides are known for being very organized defensively, which is what Real Madrid struggles with the most.
In today’s post, we’ll break down the five tactical adjustments needed by Carlo Ancelotti to defeat AC Milan and start gaining some momentum.
1) Less Vertical Shape
This season, Carlo has said that one way he wants the side to adapt to the current personnel is by being more vertical. One of the challenges we’re seeing with this strategy is that short horizontal passes draw the opposition out of position, which opens up more space for the other players, ultimately changing the point of attack.
A faster, more vertical system often leaves the opposition more organized in their defensive block, which could, in theory, still work if they had more discipline from the wide players to stretch the opposition and the quality to find players from deeper zones, which we’ve seen only a handful of times this season.
2) Winning Second Balls
We’re seeing Carlo asking his center backs, especially Eder Militao, to play longer balls to Vinicius and Mbappe, given our left-side-heavy system.
Although those balls from the back have been impressive and have hit the target more often than not, they often isolate our forwards with a fullback, and the tack is lost after the second ball isn’t won because there’s little support for those isolated players.
This strategy could work against lesser opposition, where the fullback is physically outmatched. We saw this where Rafinha versus Vazquez in the Classico was executed with perfection because Vazquez couldn’t physically keep up with Rafinha
The issue Real Madrid often face when these passes are made is it seems to catch them off guard as much as it catches the opposition off guard. They have absolutely no consistent patterns of play that allow the players to develop fluidity.
3) Playing Bellingham in the No10 Role
Carlo Ancelotti has to start playing Jude Bellingham higher up the pitch. There are very few players in the world that can play with their backs to goal and receive the ball into pressure. There’s also very few players in the world that can attack the box like Jude Bellingham.
Having him in such a deep position, with all of his quality, makes no sense. Not to mention that having Jude Bellingham play higher up the pitch frees up Mbappe more because he’s not having to play a more traditional nine role in wider positions.
The current role Jude Bellingham plays at Real Madrid provides a lot of defensive intensity, but it takes away a lot of his qualities that make him a world-class talent.
Jude is also not known for his long-range passing; he’s excellent with creating space and playing a decisive pass, but not a long ball which is what the team really need from deeper zones, Jude doesn’t really fit that role.
In Real Madrid’s second-half comeback against Dortmund, we saw Carlo push Jude higher up the pitch, which was a gamble, but it paid off. There were phases where Dortmund almost scored because Jude was defending less, but this also gives you the opportunity to win the ball higher up the pitch.
4) Bring On Other Players
One of the things many supporters are keen to see is a change in system that includes players like Arda Guler and Endrick.
Endrick is a more traditional number nine, and in certain games, it makes sense to give him more minutes.
This is not to suggest or recommend starting him in a tough away game like we saw against Leipzig, but rather give him more minutes in games like these or the game against Barcelona in the Classico.
Real Madrid were already down two-nil, and there was nothing happening at all. It’s clear the team can benefit from having those types of profile players in the team.
Why not give chances to players on the bench, especially in a game where you’re already losing by such a big margin? Players like Arda Guler, that Carlo Ancelotti said himself can play in a midfield three in a deeper position, why not give the Turkish sensation opportunity to play in a deeper position to initiate the buildup play and see if that balances out with the rest of the players that we have?
The few games that Luka Modric has played this season, he has looked pretty good because, again, Real Madrid need somebody who can control the tempo, who can distribute the ball, and it’s so clear that whenever they don’t have that type of profile player on the team, the whole players struggle.
You need to have a sort of quarterback player who can feed the ball to and distribute it like Toni Kroos did.
5) Eder Militao to RB
The last one on this list is moving Eder Militao to right back. Part of the reason this is necessary is because you cannot have a situation where Lucas Vazquez is going against Rafael Leao.
Especially if you’re going to have a long season where you’re going to face some top-quality left wingers, so if you’re not going to bring in a short-term emergency person to back up Dani Carvajal, then there is need to have a few games where Eder Militao is playing at right back. Today’s game is the perfect game to do it.
Realistically, it’s a big doubt if Lucas Vazquez can keep up physically with Leao; he’s just so strong and fast. Especially if he’s isolated against him one-on-one, you can forget about it. And having a guy like Militao, who’s so strong and fast, can also free up a guy like Valverde to push higher up the pitch and affect the game, and he’s not so restricted to having to just sit back so deep.
There are reports that Rudiger trains separately from the squad, which means if he were to start the game, he wouldn’t likely play the full 90. This is a perfect game to play a guy like Tchouaméni at center back.
The only natural center back that’s fit right now for Real Madrid, other than Rudiger and Militao, is Vallejo, which is actually insanity to think about at Real Madrid, to only one real natural backup as center back.
AC Milan has some high-quality players; they have players like Chukwueze, Rafael Leao, Pulisic, Morata, so they have some individual talent, and those guys like to combine in very short passes.
So just because they’re 7th in Serie A, and on paper, we should win. You cannot underestimate a team with that many individually talented players. So it’s expected that the team is taking this game very seriously.
There needs to be a revolution for Real Madrid; something needs to change for the season. Otherwise, Real Madrid would be headed towards some really shaky waters. But again, players like Brahim Diaz, Arda Guler, Endrick, these guys deserve more minutes, and if they’re not coming off the bench. If one of them is not starting, then maybe they’ve got some serious issues with Carlo Ancelotti.
So, the game against AC Milan is an opportunity for the Real Madrid team to win in a very decisive way. Defeating a team like AC Milan at the San Siro would make a big statement.
Let’s know if you agree with the adjustments and the assessment that has been highlighted in this article using the comments box below.
Thank you for reading.