La Liga 2020/21: Real Madrid vs Granada – tactical analysis

With Atlético Madrid claiming a 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad, the pressure was on Real Madrid to respond with a victory and remain level on points with their crosstown rival.

Their opponent was Granada, a side that, like Madrid, seemed to have recovered from a poor five-week stretch of play. December saw them advance in the Europa League and Copa del Rey, as well as claim back-to-back La Liga victories.

In this tactical analysis, well look at Granadas high press and the early chances it produced. That press presented some early issues for Real Madrid, but it is a problem they managed to solve. This analysis will look at the tactics Zinedine Zidane employed in the buildup, as well as his tactics on the right-hand side of the pitch. In the end, Real Madrid managed to walk away with the 2-0 win largely due to Zinedane’s second-half adjustments. His tactical alterations produced more numbers in the box, paving the way for Casemiros game-winner. Before we get there, lets look at the lineups.

Lineups

Zidane set Los Blancos out in a 4-3-3 with Thibaut Courtois in the net. Dani Carvajal started on the right with Ferland Mendy opposite him. In the middle of defence were Sergio Ramos and Raphaël Varane. The asymmetric three-man midfield consisted of Casemiro in his deep, central role, Toni Kroos as a left-central regista and Federico Valverde more advanced in the right central part of the pitch.

Rodrygo started the game at left-forward but was forced off with a hamstring injury in the 38^th minute. That forced Zidane into a change of tactics against Granada, leading to the introduction of Marco Asensio, who was very lively in this match. He joined Karim Benzema and Lucas Vázquez up top.

For Diego Martínez,