Successful tactical blueprints rely on a couple of imperatives.
They should adhere to a team’s principles while creating advantages against their opponent, without weakening the team in certain phases of play. It also needs to fit the profiles of the available players, maximising their strengths and minimising their weaknesses. But all that pre-match theory can be torn up if the players fail to execute the plan for one reason or another.
The opposition’s tactical execution and reaction can also be a stumbling block, even if the idea fits the situation. That was the case in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie — when Federico Valverde almost entirely nullified Atleti’s plan down the left.
On paper, Atletico used a 4-4-2 formation, but when they had the ball, right-back Marcos Llorente tucked inside next to the centre-backs, Javi Galan pushed forward down the left wing and Samuel Lino operated in the left half-space to give them a 3-2-4-1 shape.
The idea made sense considering Madrid’s porous 4-4-2 shape without the ball this season. In theory, Diego Simeone’s team were aiming to find an advantage via Antoine Griezmann between the lines, allow Julian Alvarez to attack the space left by Real’s centre-backs when they were out of position, or isolate stand-in right-back Valverde in a two-vs-one situation.
But Valverde was aware of this and reacted perfectly. To begin with, the Uruguay international never over-committed to Lino or Galan and maintained a position that allowed him to jump to either of them, depending on where Atletico attacked.
When Simeone’s side built attacks down the right and switched the play towards the left to find Lino or Galan, Valverde adjusted his positioning depending on the scenario.
Here, Valverde sees that Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asencio are in a position to pick up Lino, so he takes a couple of steps to the right as the ball is circulated to Atletico’s left-sided centre-back, Clement Lenglet.
When Lenglet plays the ball to Galan, Valverde is already in position to defend against the left-back, with Asencio tracking Lino’s movement.
Galan then tries to find Alvarez’s run into space, but Tchouameni intercepts the pass.
Throughout the game, Valverde orchestrated how Madrid defended their right side.
A similar situation to the one above occurred here, with Galan and Lino trying to overload the left flank as Atletico built an attack down the right.
As Pablo Barrios plays the ball back to Jose Maria Gimenez, Valverde instructs Tchouameni to pick up Lino…
… and moves towards Galan to prevent Lenglet from finding his left-back in a comfortable position. Meanwhile, Valverde signals to Rodrygo to move up and press Lenglet.
As a result, Atletico cannot use the overload they have been trying to create down the left-hand side.
Lenglet then plays the ball to Griezmann, who chips it behind Madrid’s defence, but Valverde’s positioning allows him to recover possession.
In the example below, Valverde focuses on tracking Lino, with Eduardo Camavinga and Tchouameni dragged to the left and Rodrygo tracking Galan.
As Giuliano Simeone plays the ball to Rodrigo De Paul, Valverde moves closer to Lino…
… which proves vital when De Paul dribbles forward and finds Alvarez’s run behind the defence…
… because it puts the Madrid captain in a better position to defend the cross.
Valverde was constantly in the right place at the right time to save Madrid’s defence — and it was no coincidence.
Here, De Paul attacks the space Ferland Mendy has vacated and Barrios finds the midfielder between the lines. Asencio and Antonio Rudiger shift across, which leaves Valverde in a two-vs-one situation against Lino and Griezmann.
De Paul’s flick to Alvarez further isolates Valverde because Asencio adjusts his position to track the centre-forward. But Valverde is already on the move to be ready to defend against Lino and Griezmann.
By the time Alvarez plays the ball back to Simeone, Valverde has adjusted his position and can track Griezmann’s run towards the space behind Madrid’s centre-backs.
Simeone tries to find Griezmann in space and the French forward attempts a dummy with Lino running in behind, but Valverde is in the correct position to intercept.
Valverde’s ability to defend these situations was not just about his pace and explosiveness, but also his positioning and decision-making — a feat made more impressive when considering how he was filling in at right-back rather than in his usual midfield role.
Madrid did concede down their right side through Alvarez’s 32nd-minute curler — but that was not Valverde’s fault: as he moved up towards Galan, Camavinga was tracking Alvarez’s run behind him. It took a remarkable effort from the Argentina international to score from that angle, highlighting how effective Valverde was in otherwise cutting out Atleti’s attacks down that side.
It was a performance that left Carlo Ancelotti running out ways to praise him and was even more remarkable given Valverde had been a major doubt for this game following a hamstring injury. “I have no words left for him,” said Madrid’s head coach after the match. “He made a tremendous effort, fantastic. In the end, he was just tired.”
Tactical plans are about execution as well as planning. Atletico had the right attacking ideas, but Valverde ruined them.
(Top photo: Getty Images, Wyscout)
