These are the five tactical keys to Real Madrid’s victory over Bayern with which the white team sealed their qualification for the Champions League final on June 1 at Wembley against Dormund.
While the Madrid coach chose to repeat the eleven from the first leg with Nacho in the midfield, Tchuaméni in the middle and Camavinga on the bench, Tuchel did move the board to apply new features to the Bayern eleven. De Ligt as a novelty at the back, the three most powerful midfielders at the start (Sané, Musiala and Gnabry/Davies later) and the Laimer-Pavlovic couple as a double pivot. In the second half, the same script from the benches: usual changes from the Madrid side (Modric for Kroos, Camavinga for Tchuaméni, Brahim for Rodrygo, Joselu for Valverde) and the German coach switching to a defense of five. And each one playing their cards and adapting to each context. Madrid taking the initiative more (57% possession) but Bayern without giving up anything, coming out with clarity (five shots on goal and staying nowhere near the final. Continuity against interventionism and it ended up being decided by the details.
One of the arguments with which Madrid created more danger was the varied arrivals of Carvajal. Something that is not new but that the Madridistas exploited greatly when the game was less open and Bayern were able to close access to Bellingham or Rodrygo very well. So much so that he was one of the players who had the most presence in the offensive zones. And, with 44 interventions in 45 minutes, he was not only the defender with the most participation but the second player with the most weight in the game, only surpassed by Kroos. And almost all of them in the upper part: 34 of the 44 interventions mentioned were in the rival field. And as has been common in recent times, he combined participating on the wing with receiving from the inside. In fact, seven of the 34 he accumulated in adversary territory were inside. In addition, he took out two danger centers in 45 minutes. One of them walked past Neuer’s goal. (Who Scored)
Unlike the first leg, Musiala played as a pure midfielder and had a spectacular game. In large part, because of his intelligence to move between the lines and read the game. With Bayern with the ball in their own half, he positioned himself well in front of the double pivot to create the dilemma of whether or not to jump Tchuaméni. And with this, he received many times between himself and the defense (44 participations) to become, from here on, the maximum generator of the German team. Furthermore, he was intuitive and supportive in defensive tasks. Davies’ goal comes from a wonderful maneuver of his in which he recovers and turns on himself to quickly activate the transition. He is a great talent.
As the minutes passed, Vinícius noticed that seeking face-to-face with Kimmich benefited him due to his superiority in duels and he settled at the left peak of the attack. In fact, it ended up being the point where Madrid was most superior to Bayern permanently but, above all, from 0-1 onwards. The Brazilian ended up surpassing the German in seven of the twelve attempts he tried.
With 10 minutes left, Tuchel committed everything to defending the area and Madrid activated epic mode. A way that is always, absolutely always, repeated in the Champions League and that goes beyond any football explanation other than believing and persisting (nine crosses into the area in this stretch). This time, with a main protagonist who had not experienced any similar chapter before. And that is what makes Madrid’s history in their fiefdom in extreme situations even more inexplicable, and that is that even footballers without the habit of facing extreme moments like these, know what to do. In just ten interventions, two goals in his only two shots.
