“Equilibrio” That one word was ever present in Carlo Ancelotti’s press conferences since he signed up to be Madrid’s coach. It was also the one thing that Mou-drid lacked. For all of Mourinho’s tactical abilities, his team were incredibly one-dimensional at times. Soak up pressure and use the passing of Alonso and Ozil to release Benzema, Di Maria and that Portuguese fella to destroy teams on the break. Madrid winning the ball in their own half and scoring a goal under 10 seconds was an incredibly common sight.
Perfect strategy for playing against teams like Barcelona who would have 60-70% ball possession, barely any shots on target and end up losing. However against teams who turned the tables, it was rather less successful. Dortmund destroyed Madrid in the first leg simply because Madrid seemed incapable of keeping the ball and controlling the game. Sir Alex nearly dumped Madrid out by having United defend deep and break with pace. Both the clubs did one very crucial thing, mark Xabi Alonso out of the game. Klopp was incredibly blunt when he mentioned that you shut down Alonso, you shut down Madrid.
That was the first thing Ancelotti tried to fix. The early part of the season was rough, Madrid were disjointed, lacked tempo, intensity and scraped through their matches. But like Liverpool last year there was a sense of improvement. Step by step Ancelotti was closing in on THE formula. A lot of people who wrote off Madrid for losing the El Clasico overlooked one key detail, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona were playing at the peak of their abilities and had still not run away with the lead. Real Madrid were always within touching distance. You always sensed that Real Madrid had tremendous scope for improvement while Barca and Atletico did not That is exactly what has happened come January. Barca and Atletico were still playing as well as they did at the start of the season, Madrid kept improving and finding new gears to switch into.
There are a few key reasons for this dramatic improvement:-
1) Injury to Khedira and shift to 4-3-3
It breaks my heart to say this but Khedira being injured has been a blessing to Madrid. It forced Ancelotti to a 4-3-3. This is a brilliant formation since it allows you to have a player in every zone of the pitch. It also allowed Ancelotti to fit Bale, Di Maria and Ronaldo all in the same team without affecting the balance or “equilibrio”.
2) The midfield 3
I can’t stop raving about the trio of Modric, Alonso and Angel Di Maria. Yes, Angel Di Maria. In. Central. Midfield. I honestly thought Carletto was a bit crazy when I saw the lineup and it said Di Maria was in central midfield! But it has worked wonders. Modric, Alonso and Di Maria all end up complementing each other wonderfully.
Modric is always in motion, keeping himself open, receiving and quickly moving the ball along. He is probably the best central midfielder in Europe right now. He has been that good for Madrid.
Alonso is the wise old mage in the center of the park. Dropping deep to become a third center back, it allows our two frustrated-wingers-operating-as-full-backs license to bomb forward, creating overlaps and overloads and making merry. Also, Alonso isn’t half bad at playing those 50-60 yard passes *cue poor Oprah impersonation* YOU GET A PASS! YOU GET A PASS! EVERYONE GETS A PASS!
Di Maria brings directness in midfield. Taking the ball and using his dribbling abilities to run at the opposition to devastating effect. His stamina and work rate are so good he often ends up playing in central midfield and left wing in the same match.
3) BBC
Words aren’t enough to describe their telepathic understanding. Bale had a rough start – joining Madrid injured, missing preseason and having poor performances in the beginning. Just like I said last year for Modric, ‘wait till January and then judge him’ and he has delivered. He seems to assist every other goal Madrid score lately. Benzema has finally shrugged off his lethargic form for the past 18 months and looks the part. Constantly moving around creating space for either Ronaldo or Bale, his unselfish play is why I say he is exactly the kind of striker Madrid need. Not gonna talk about that Portuguese fella. Bit boring really: scores goals for fun, defenders can’t seem to stop him, blah blah blah.
Also, let me just end my point on BBC with this image.
4) Possession Play
Madrid are comfortable on the ball after a long time. They can keep the ball and control the matches. There is no constant need of getting the ball forward and scoring a goal as soon as they win possession. Mind you, they can kill teams off on the counters, but they also have a balance to their play. The defenders are more in control while in possession, linking up beautifully with the midfielders who are as comfortable dropping deep to defend and collect as well as bombing forward in support of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo.
All of the above things were a bit pointless leading up the final though. After destroying Bayern Munich Madrid had somehow managed to let the League title slip away. The lead up to the Champions League final oddly ended up with Real Madrid not being the favourites! Atletico had come in as La Liga champions and they started the match as such. Shutting Real Madrid down and not giving any space. However Diego Simeone’s decision to start Costa backfired, Costa had to come off injured after just 9 minutes and Atletico had to finish the match with just 2 substitutions remaining.
As the second half wore on, Real Madrid started to find their rhythm and Carlo Ancelotti brought on Isco and Marcelo. Atletico were content to defend deep and hold out against a determined Real side. Sadly Real’s finishing let them down miserably. Gareth Bale had 3 glorious chances and somehow managed to miss all of them! But Atletico did not seem to have accounted for Sergio Ramos who has at times been on a one man mission to atone for 2012. Playing central midfield, out wide left near the end of the second half, driving the team on. If the 2 goals against Bayern led to rest his demons for that horrid penalty miss, the equalizer was something else
.
Any team which scores in the 92nd minute and forces extra time always has the momentum, and that is what happened. Real Madrid dug deep and wore Atletico down. In the second half of extra time, Atletico players could barely move and Real Madrid’s energizer bunny Angel Di Maria capitalised with a driving run and a shot which Courtois managed to save brilliantly with an outstretched leg. Sadly for Atletico and their fairy tale, the ball ballooned up and Bale pounced to head Real Madrid into the lead. The third goal by Marcelo summed up Atletico’s exhaustion perfectly. Where all the players would bomb back and start defending as a unit, half the team was stranded up field and were walking back as Marcelo went on a jog and placed an exquisite shot. The penalty for the 4th was harsh, a tired tackle by a mentally and physically exhausted team crushed by one of the most heartbreaking endings in UCL history.
None of this takes anything away from Real Madrid. They have shown over the course of the season that they are deserved champions of Europe. For a team with a German curse, knocking out the 3rd, 2nd and 1st placed German teams seemed oddly appropriate. I personally feel that the 2-0 loss to Dortmund was the most important thing that could have happened. It was a slap in the face and really helped focus Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti finally found his long awaited equilibrio and Real Madrid got La Decima.
