Chelsea 0-2 Real Madrid | Tactical Analysis

Let’s analyse the second leg between Chelsea and Real Madrid.

Real Madrid

In possession

Lampard’s side showed a better version with Reece James as a right winger, being much higher during all phases , than when he plays as fullback, with Kanté in the front line next to Havertz.

We can see it here, Reece James pressing Camavinga and Gallagher at the same height, being narrow, so when the ball went to Carvajal, Cucurella was the one jumping on the right back.

0-1

With the former Brighton player having to make the decision to come out and press so high up came Real Madrid’s first goal. Kroos switches the play with a pass to Militao and Cucurella makes a serious mistake by trying to press the center back, leaving plenty of space at his back where Rodrygo is waiting. Chalobah also makes a mistake trying to intercept the pass but arrives late in the duel being left out of the play. Very interesting movement from Vinícius who runs into the box and instead of attacking the far post he slows down waiting for the pass.

Fofana vs Vinícius

With Reece James as the right winger, jumping to press Camavinga, the player covering Vinícius was Fofana, who had a better game than in the first leg. Much braver, forcing him to play with his back to goal and not going backwards when the Brazilian tried to dribble, so Chelsea could defend far from the box.

0-2

In one of the few plays in which Vinicíus was able to attack his back, came the second goal after a long Real Madrid possession. With the ball in the final third, Mudryk is very poor in defence, leaving too much space for Valverde on the edge of the box.

Chelsea FC

In possession

When Chelsea had possession Reece James kept his position, so the duels were the same, Vinícius on Fofana and Camavinga on James. One of Madrid’s problems in pressing, as in the first leg, was Enzo Fernandez being left free to receive on many plays.

Reece James & Kanté vs Camavinga

Knowing that Fofana was covering his back, Reece James was able to contribute much more in attack, with Camavinga making poor decisions when Kanté appear in the right wing, as instead of protecting the space at his back he jumped on Reece James. In this play, the same thing happens and we can see another of Real Madrid’s weaknesses, always leaving a free Chelsea player at the back post.

When Vinícius was helping Camavinga in defence his positioning was bad, as in this play in the 11th minute when the ball came to Kanté who finished poorly, in a shot that could have changed the game.

In addition, Kanté’s position pin Camavinga when the ball was on left flank.

We see it in this play where Camavinga covers Kanté and Reece James has plenty of space. These plays happened constantly in the first half, with Camavinga having to defend up to 2 players.

After the break Ancelotti solved the problem by placing Valverde in the gap between centre-back and full-back, with Real Madrid having superiority.

Lastly, if there was one thing Chelsea lacked, apart from finishing, it was attacking space, with Gallagher contributing little, not understanding plays like this one in which he can attack Militao’s back. Surely Sterling could have played better in his position.

Great win for Real Madrid to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals.