Arbeloa’s tactical masterplan that took down the City machine
Real Madrid thumped Manchester City in the first leg, giving them a commading lead going into the game in England.
Fede said it himself after the game: he was a free man. A free man who beat City 3-0 with the thunderous legs of an angry ogre, the deft touch of a fairy’s tail feather, and the bravery to put the Lion from Oz back in his box.
Arbeloa’s decision to play four midfielders allowed Real Madrid to completely overrun Guardiola’s City side who, at times, had only Rodri in the middle of the pitch.
While Guardiola’s aim was to flood the field with quick, direct attacking players, putting all of Semenyo, Savinho, and Doku in front of Madrid’s back line, the problems started further back.
It was in fact Tchouaméni, Arda Güler, and Thiago Pitarch who overran the middle of the pitch, with Bernardo Silva unable to dictate as usual by floating in between them - the overload was too much. This chaotic white wall caused the City players to shift out of position to cover and plug the gaps popping up like sinkholes, allowing Fede Valverde to become the most dangerous player on the pitch. He burned past right-back Nico O’Reilly for the first, snuck in behind the centre-backs for the second, and showed a stunning mixture of arrogance and ability to poke home number three.
It was a simple yet incredibly effective move from Arbeloa to counteract City’s system by turning his own into overdrive, and not an easy task for his players to pull off. But they did just so, and the second leg becomes a lot easier because of it.
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