Chelsea’s Attacking Issues vs Real Madrid - Tactical Analysis

An in-depth breakdown by Ryan Gunness

A contribution piece by Ryan Gunness.

When Real Madrid Pressed High. 

Despite starting in a 4-3-3 on paper, Real Madrid defended in a 5-ATB, with Valverde (RW) acting as a makeshift wingback as such. Here, Real Madrid implemented a high press, using a 5-2-3 shape as follows, matching up to Chelsea’s CBs 1v1 (A). Despite this challenge, Chelsea took advantage of Real Madrid’s isolated midfield duo, by implementing a makeshift midfield 3 as such (B). Here, one of Chelsea’s wingers often dropped deep, becoming that “free” man in midfield, allowing Chelsea to gain numerical advantage over Madrid’s midfield. This numerical advantage, opened passing lanes for Chelsea, at which they failed to take advantage of. How?

Upon ball progression into midfield, Chelsea’s wingbacks and attackers were all man-marked by Madrid’s makeshift back-5 (C). At which, passes to such attackers often led to side-ways/back-passes (D), allowing Real Madrid time to form a low-block as a result. What could have been done instead? In such situation, Chelsea’s midfielders should have taken advantage of their numerical superiority, driving forward with the ball instead. Inevitably, this would have drawn defenders from Madrid’s back-5 forward, creating spaces for runs in behind (E). At this point, Chelsea’s attackers could have made inroads into Real Madrid’s final 3rd, putting their back-line in quite the predicament (F).

When Real Madrid Implemented a Low-Block. 

In a low-block, Real Madrid set up in a 5-4-1 as such (G). At this point, Madrid no longer pressed Chelsea’s CBs, allowing Chelsea to dedicate many numbers forward as follows. Once again, we saw Real Madrid’s back-5 man-mark each of Chelsea’s attackers, but this time, with their midfield 4 cutting passing lanes as such (H). This made ball progression via short-passes incredibly difficult, risking dangerous turnovers which resulted in Chelsea taking a very cautious approach. Even when Chelsea managed to get the ball inside the pockets, Chelsea’s attackers/wingbacks refused to take the responsibility of going 1v1, often resorting to repeated back and sideways passes.

This is yet another game, where Chelsea failed to ask questions of a low-block. For example, in Real Madrid’s goals, they asked questions of Chelsea, often with Valverde or Modric sending crosses from wide/inverted positions. Why is it that Chelsea cannot do the same? Any quality possession-based team has to ask these questions against low blocks, that is, via lofted through balls, crosses or diagonals into the final 3rd (I). At this point, with the amount of numbers Chelsea had forward, they could have easily implemented a counter-press to win 2nd balls (J), adding another way to create goal scoring chances. Why is it that Chelsea are so reluctant to ask these questions of oppositions? Is it due to lack of confidence, lack of quality, one-dimensional tactics or a mixture of all three? 

Conclusion

Despite these attacking issues, Chelsea still had enough chances to come away with at least a 3-3 draw. However, once again, poor finishing robbed us of a possible result. That being said, it would not be a surprise if Real Madrid once again set up in a 5-4-1 in the next leg, begging the question, will Chelsea learn their lesson or will we see another disappointing performance? 

Written By: Ryan Gunness