Pep Guardiola’s tactical gamble against Real Madrid appears to have backfired spectacularly. A somewhat unfancied Real Madrid beat Manchester City 3-0 after Guardiola ripped up his plans from recent weeks.
Surprise Line-up and System
Alvaro Arbeloa had predicted that Guardiola would spring a surprise or two. Guardiola grinned, nodded his head and said “a lot of surprises”. Guardiola disputes the idea that he actually made that many changes at all.
Some eyebrows were raised before kick-off when Guardiola duly named a considerably different team from recent weeks. It did not, at the time, feel like a major misstep, but it did by the end.
Changes in Midfield Structure
In recent weeks, City have generally played with a 4-2-2-2 — a ‘box’ in midfield. Sometimes it can look more like a diamond, but it is narrow in nature, with the width provided by the full-backs. Nico O’Reilly has been a key part of the midfield set-up, Rayan Ait-Nouri has replaced him at left back and Matheus Nunes has done the same width-providing job on the other side, as he has all season.
O’Reilly’s presence in midfield has complemented Bernardo Silva and Rodri, and between them, they have formed an impressive unit. The fourth midfielder has changed a bit, but Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki have done well in the middle, behind Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo up front, usually.
On Wednesday night, there was little of that. Nunes was out entirely, as was Ait-Nouri. O’Reilly was back at left-back and Guardiola brought back his wingers, but also stuck with Semenyo and Haaland up front. Bernardo and Rodri looked exposed.
Guardiola asked back, referring to his decision to move the 20-year-old back to a role he has played many times over the past year, “How many times has Nico O’Reilly played left-back this season, how many times?” Guardiola stated, “The only thing we adjusted was (Abdukodir) Khusanov in that area because with Vinicius Junior in that area, we.
Defensive Errors and Loss of Energy
Defensive mistakes were a huge part of the story, the kind that cannot really be legislated for no matter the line-up, but Guardiola’s attack-minded team lost their early energy after Madrid’s first goal. They were not built to shuffle the ball around solemnly, which happened because Madrid tore through them, sapping their enthusiasm.
The starting line-up, owing to Guardiola’s longstanding reputation for ‘overthinking’, had become the biggest story.
Guardiola said at the start of his answer, “There were not many changes”. He said at the end of it, “Rotation we have done in Newcastle, I played nine different players”.
“I would be very surprised if he doesn’t change any structure on how the team plays or attacks,” Arbeloa had said of Guardiola at his pre-match press conference. “He thinks a lot.”