Properties2
| Type | Concept |
| Note created | Mar 12, 2026 |
Some very interesting tactics happening in this 2025-2026 Champions League match of Real Madrid against Manchester City. I enjoyed a lot this video by Pedro El Ingeniero explaining it on detail. The main takeaway is that they played a sort of 4-4-2: Arnold, Rudiger, Huisen, Mendy in the back; Tchouameni and Pitarch as CMF, Valverde as RMF (again, sort of) and Guler as LMF; with Vinicius and Brahim as strikers.
The key parts of this tactics are:
- When out of possession, Valverde would drop to a RFB position and Arnold would work as a RCB, turning Real Madrid into an effective 5-3-2 on defense. That way, Madrid was able to contain Doku thanks to Valverde.
- To initiate the play, Pitarch would drop to a deep position right next to Tchouameni that would make Madrid overrun City’s high pressure.
- Valverde would also be in charge on running to attack spaces and performing long runs, which amounts to playing as RFB, RM, RF – Valverde own the whole right side of the field.