What went wrong for Real Madrid this season (and how to fix it)? – data analysis

Carlo Ancelotti picked up three trophies this season.

Even still, its not the season the defending European and La Liga champions hoped for.

After a down year, Barcelona stormed back to retake the La Liga crown and Real Madrid experienced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the Champions League. Los Blancos came up blank in the two competitions they valued most.

Winning just three trophies in a single year can only be disappointing for the likes of Real Madrid, especially when the Champions League or La Liga titles are not one of the trophies claimed. The jury is still out on the consequences of a relatively disappointing season. Arrivals and departures are rumoured, including links to Ancelotti’s future.

This data analysis will look at what went wrong in Madrid. We’ll use statistics and data visualisations to identify key differences from last seasons wildly successful campaign to this season. Player performances will factor into this analysis as well. And finally, since no team is an island, we will also look at how Real Madrid fared against La Liga this year and the number one threat to reclaiming the domestic title, the resurgence of Barcelona.

Teamwide patterns and statistics

Lets start with a look at differences from the team perspective. We want to look at how this seasons attacking patterns compare to last year, and also look at defensive metrics. Those defensive metrics will include transitional moments, particularly the effectiveness of the counterpress.

A common criticism this season was that Vinícius Júnior accounted for too much of the creative load. The Brazilian forward had another excellent year and was the most dangerous player in the club. Among players with at least 500 minutes played, Vinis 10.93 dribbles P90 rank second behind Osasunas Ez Abde (13.27), who only played 624 minutes over 10 matches. Safe to say that no one carried as much of his teams attacking burden as Vinícius Júnior did in 2022/23.

The ball progression map reflects Real Madrids dependence on #20. Though Vinícius Júnior still carried much of the attacking burden last year, the load only seems to have increased in 2022/23. By attacking burden, we are specifically targeting progressive actions that carry the team into the final third and into the box. In the oppositions half of the field, no player was as important to Real Madrid’s final third attacking side than the Brazilian.

But with such extreme dependence on a single players individual brilliance, attacks become more predictable. Opponents could find ways to limit the damage inflicted by Vini. Whether that was sitting deeper or committing a second (or third) defender to the ball, containing Vinícius Júnior’s threat was each opponents top priority.

Predictability in attack wasnt the only issue Real Madrid encountered this season.

One of the major storylines this season was the age of Real Madrids