Meet the Spanish Champions, Real Madrid. They are finalists in the Champions League, Supercopa de España champions, and La Liga winners. Furthermore, they have demonstrated tactical flexibility and resilience in the face of injuries, and important departures in the last 12 months. Thus, placing in the conversation as one of the best, if no the best team in Europe.
Last summer, legendary French striker Karim Benzema left the club, leaving coach Carlo Ancelotti with a significant problem. How to find goals in without a prolific striker? While the club signed veteran striker Joselu on loan from RCD Espanyol, his role in more ancillary. Ancelotti prefers a system to accommodate and elevate an extremely talented group of young players.
Real Madrid most often line up in a 4-3-1-2 formation, allowing their bright young stars Vinícius, Rodrygo and Bellingham to shine.
Vinícius and Rodrygo look to play on the shoulder of the center backs, ready to run in behind at a moment’s notice. Most of their movement involves them to drop a bit deeper in order to link play, where they look to engage in quick passing combination with each other, or midfielders like Bellingham.
On the other hand, Bellingham has excelled in his role as a number 10 behind Vinícius and Rodrygo, registering 23 goals and 12 assists this season.
Madrid have dealt with long term injuries to key players this season. Star goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois tore his ACL in August, and only just returned to against Cadiz On 4 May 2024. Madrid also spent the majority of the season without center back Éder Militão, who sustained an ACL injury in August as well. He returned to the starting 11 on April 26, 2024, against Real Sociedad. Finally, center back David Alaba tore his ACL on December 17, 2023, in a league game against Villarreal. He has not played since.
In their place, Andriy Lunin stepped into the goalkeeper spot, while Nacho Fernández has occupied the left center back spot. Together, they have helped Madrid have the best defense in La Liga, only conceding 22 goals in 36 games*. For context, the next best defense in La Liga, is that of Athletic club, who have conceded 35 goals in 35 games*. *All these stats are accurate as of the time of writing.
Finally, Madrid have demonstrated incredible resilience in important games, with the UEFA Champions League being their playground of choice. In their first leg quarter-final game against Manchester City, they went down 1-0 early, before scoring twice in five minutes, leading 2-1 at the end of the half. City retook the lead after scoring twice in five minutes in the half, but Madrid did not go away.
In the 79th minute, midfielder Federico Valverde blasted a precise shot into the bottom corner off a delicate cross from Vinícius. This brought the final score to 3-3, and set Madrid up with a fighting chance in the second leg. There, they won at the Etihad on penalties to advance to the semi-finals.
In the semis, they were facing elimination after going down 1-0 in the 69th minute to Bayern Munich in the second leg. With the aggregate score at 3-2, Madrid needed two goals to advance to the final. In the 81st minute, Ancelotti made an aggressive substitution, bringing on striker Joselu, for Federico Valverde.
8 minutes after stepping onto the field, Joselu scored to tie the aggregate score. Then in 90+1 minute, he scored again, completing Madrid’s comeback, and sending Los Blancos to their 18th UCL final.
This is part 3 of a series on the Champions of Europe’s top five leagues. Links to parts one, two, and three can be found on the corresponding numbers.
Thank you for reading this edition of European Champions, featuring Real Madrid.
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