Real Madrid fell to yet another humiliating home defeat as their poor form continued in 2020/21, with Alavés running out 1-2 winners at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano thanks to goals from Lucas Pérez and Joselu, despite Casemiros late consolation strike.
An early penalty for a foul from Nacho meant that Pérez had the chance to give his side the lead, with Joselu later pouncing on a Thibaut Courtois mistake. Casemiro did reignite some hope late on, bundling the ball over the line from a corner. The result means that Real Madrid fall to six points and a game behind rivals Atlético Madrid while being seven points behind leaders Real Sociedad.
This tactical analysis will look at how Real Madrid fell to defeat to Alavés. It provides an analysis of the tactics of both Zinedine Zidane and Pablo Machín in this La Liga fixture to see how Machín secured his first away win over Los Blancos, never having been beaten by the reigning champions in a home fixture.
Line-ups
With Sergio Ramos and Fede Valverde among those to remain sidelined, Mariano Díaz also kept his place thanks to a new injury concern with Karim Benzema. Zidane also opted to select Marcelo over Ferland Mendy at left-back in a surprise move given the other defensive frailties forced upon him.
Machín stuck to the side which drew with Valencia, offering real flexibility to transition between a back five to a back four or a back three, with players stepping up and sitting back according to the phase of the game and whether or not Alavés are in possession.
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