I sat down with my notebook this morning determined to break down that thrilling Real Madrid match against Athletic Club. You know, the one everyone’s buzzing about? Felt like digging into exactly how those positions shaped the game from kickoff to final whistle. Let me just walk you through how I tackled it, step by messy step.
Getting My Head in the Game
First thing? Pulled up the full match replay while grabbing a coffee. Needed the visuals fresh. Not gonna lie, that opening ten minutes where Athletic pressed high had me sweating just watching it again! Scrolled through forums too, getting a sense of what people thought happened positionally – lotta wild guesses out there.
Started scribbling rough formation sketches for both teams. Early on, it looked something like this for Madrid:
- Lunin deep in goal (guy had work cut out!)
- Nacho and Rüdiger glued near the box
- Lunin kinda playing sweeper sometimes? Risky!
- Carvajal pushing way up on that right like a madman
Drowning in Stats (Almost)
Next up was the scary part: match stats websites. Opened like five different tabs. Pass maps, heatmaps, player positions graphs… it looked like spaghetti on my screen. Took me ages just to figure out how to overlay Real’s average positions on one chart without everything turning into a colorful blob. Felt a bit lost there for a hot minute. Nearly closed everything.
Slowly started picking out patterns:
- Carvajal’s average position was practically a winger’s. High and wide.
- Jude? Surprise! That dot was hovering centrally, just left of the center circle most times. Way, way deeper than I remembered live.
- Their press? Heatmap showed it wasn’t just aimless running. It was clustered right over that left half-space, forcing Athletic wide constantly.
Kept flipping between the replay and the stats screens. Paused, rewound, checked the map. Rinse and repeat. Tedious? Yeah. But man, seeing the dots match the players finally clicking? Felt great.
Putting It All Together
So here’s the raw stuff I wrestled onto the page:
- Right Side Highway: Carvajal’s constant overlaps pinned Athletic’s left back deep. Stats proved his position left acres behind him, but the CBs covered decently.
- Midfield Anarchy: Those dots showed Tchouaméni sitting, then Fede flying EVERYWHERE, Jude popping up centrally deep. No rigid lines, just chaos! Explains Athletic’s struggles tracking runners in transitions.
- Press Trap: That messy heatmap on the left side? It was a deliberate squeeze. Forced Athletic away from the middle, shoving them down the wings where crosses weren’t biting as much. Clever (and exhausting) work.
Took a step back after looking at my scrawls and the charts. Realised Madrid’s positions weren’t just attacking – they were a defensive tactic too. That high line? Pure guts, relying on speed to catch those balls over the top. Sometimes it looked shaky as hell on the replay, but statistically? Fewer dangerous shots from Athletic through the middle than I thought.
Finished up feeling like I peeled back a layer. Seeing the positions laid bare like that, matching my eye test with the cold numbers? Puts a whole new spin on what looked like just another win. Positions weren’t just dots on a chart; they told the story of how Madrid controlled the spaces, even when it looked frantic. Still buzzing from untangling it all, honestly.