In the Zone: análisis del Real Madrid – Leipzig 1-1 | UEFA Champions League

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Real Madrid reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night, but suffered an uncomfortable night against Leipzig along the way.

In this article brought to you by FedEx, UEFA match observer Frank de Boer, in collaboration with the UEFA analysis unit, analyzes the impressive performance of the German team, who left the competition with their heads held high after drawing 1 -1 at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Team formations

Leipzig builds

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted after the match that his team had struggled to cope with Leipzig’s build-up phase, and this video features several examples of the visitors progressing with the ball.

In the first clip we see that they are not afraid to start from the bottom. Next, with Dani Carvajal pressing up front, Leipzig exploits the space on Madrid’s right thanks to the excellent combination of Benjamin Šeško and the fast running of Xavi Simons, leading to an early chance for Loïs Openda.

For De Boer, “the creativity of Dani Olmo and Simons was key to Leipzig’s chances of victory”, and Madrid started the match with a 4-3-3 in an attempt to limit this threat. “Madrid tried to control the game with Jude Bellingham as a false nine, playing compactly when they didn’t have the ball,” he added.

As Ancelotti himself explained, he had tried to keep “Xavi Simons and Olmo under control with the two midfielders [Aurélien] Tchouameni y [Eduardo] Camavinga”. However, the second clip shows how Leipzig were able to work the ball through them. Madrid is pressing in a middle block, but the visitors create a numerical superiority of five against three as they advance through the field.

In the second half, Ancelotti switched to a 4-4-2, but Leipzig continued to find ways to score, as we see in clip three, when they create another chance for Openda. Ancelotti added: “I opted for a 4-3-3 to control and give [Toni] Kroos had the opportunity to move forward a little more as a pivot, but they managed the build-up well from behind with the center backs and midfielders. “That gave us problems and we couldn’t push higher.”

Leipzig’s offensive variety

Leipzig’s offensive variety

UEFA’s analysis unit saw Marco Rose’s men attack in different ways. “They come out very quickly on the counterattack,” said Madrid captain Nacho, and the first two clips of this second video show the quick transitions of the visitors, with Dani Olmo, second for ball recoveries in the competition this week (eight) and always forward-oriented, playing a key role on every occasion, first with his run and pass to Openda, and then playing with Šeško.

Although Šeško’s effort was disallowed for offside, it is worth highlighting the two players who ran towards the area at the far post in the hope of crossing, a sign of Leipzig’s attitude. “They controlled the midfield in the second half with their most aggressiveness,” De Boer said.

The third clip shows Leipzig resuming play immediately after Madrid’s goal, and what stands out is the composure and intent of Amadou Haidara, who moves away from the pressure and plays a forward pass to Xavi Simons. Leipzig immediately returns to the fray and threatens an immediate response, with an eventual shot by Simons being blocked by Antonio Rüdiger, who celebrates his intervention as if it were a goal, indicating the pressure to which the team was subjected. Madrid.

Leipzig’s defensive approach

Leipzig’s defensive approach

Against the 0-1 lead in the first leg, Leipzig was the team that played with more intensity and this was also noticeable in their defensive work.

In the first clip, we see his 4-4-2 defensive scheme and how he protects the spaces between the lines well, denying space to Federico Valverde and approaching Camavinga to force a turnover. Then, once he has the ball, his first thought is to get the offensive players forward quickly, and that urgency grows the longer the game goes on.

The second clip offers another example of his work without the ball, as he presses on a Madrid goal kick, forcing Andriy Lunin to shoot long, leading to another turnover and another quickly crafted opportunity for Olmo, who finds space inside to receive the pass and shoot at goal.

For Leipzig, however, it was another missed opportunity: “We have a lot of quality in many positions and we are scoring a lot of goals in the league championship. Maybe we lack a little experience in some situations, or the peace of mind that comes with experience.”

Madrid’s offensive threat

Madrid’s offensive threat

çIt was a night in which Madrid, according to Ancelotti, struggled with the psychological aspect of defending a lead from the first leg. “Although I wanted a lot more energy applied, the truth is that we played with our foot on the brakes almost the entire game,” he explained. “We played in a low block, but we were slow and not very vertical when we won the ball. Too many lateral passes.”

Leipzig played with more determination and took 20 shots to the locals’ 11, but paid the price for their “lack of efficiency,” as Olmo described it. And even though Madrid finished the first half with only 0.09 expected goals (the lowest figure in a first period of any game this season) and did not test the Leipzig goalkeeper in the first hour, it was the team that opened the gap through Vinícius Júnior. Vini finished the week with the highest number of receptions in the competition (nine, with a success rate of 44.4%) and was a threat with his one-on-one ability, as this third video illustrates.

In the first clip, the Brazilian striker collects the ball inside his half and dives upwards, carrying it into the Leipzig area in a sequence that ends with Kroos forcing a save from Péter Gulácsi.

And not only Vinícius Júnior. The second clip shows Rodrygo’s ability to find spaces and penetrate inside, combine with Dani Carvajal and shoot on goal.

The video ends with the home team’s goal, showing the directness, or “verticality,” in Ancelotti’s words, that was missing from much of his performance. Vinícius’s run drags Willi Orbán towards the left zone of the Madrid attack. Bellingham, driving in progression, then draws Haidara towards him, meaning there is space in the center for Vinícius to break into his diagonal run into the box.

“It was the only time Leipzig was a little more open and Madrid punished them,” De Boer said. Orbán, Leipzig captain and Man of the Match in his 300th game for the club, later added the following honest assessment: “There were some moments in both games that didn’t go our way, but we have to look at ourselves. When I conceded the goal , I tried to show him the outside, but then the inside lane was free.”

Lessons for player development

“These analysis articles are part of a strategy to translate the findings from our club and senior team competitions into practical ideas for the development of elite youth teams. By looking at trends in the men’s and women’s Champions League, “These items can be used as an engine for player development across the European landscape.”
Olivier Doglia, UEFA Director of Technical Education and Development

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