La Liga 2018/19: Real Betis vs Real Madrid

After a run of disappointing results came to an end with a Copa del Rey win over Leganes in midweek, Santiago Solari and Real Madrid were out to add to the optimism as they travelled to the Estadio Benito Villamarin to face Real Betis in La Liga. Dani Ceballos late free-kick meant that they came away with it, despite Luka Modrics opener being cancelled out by Sergio Canales controversial equaliser in the 2-1 win.

It was an experimental evening for Solari, who made some intriguing tactical and stylistic changes to the set-up of his team. Here, our tactical analysis will use statistics to identify what key points Real Madrid can take from the game as they secured a La Liga victory away from home.

Experimenting with three at the back

Not since the famous eighth Champions League title victory under Vicente del Bosque have Real Madrid started with a back three and got a result. Julen Lopeteguis experiment against Barcelona showed it is not always easy to implement. Santiago Solari has never been one to experiment, almost always rigidly sticking to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 whilst with Castilla and now the Real Madrid first team.

On Sunday evening, however, he got experimental and mixed things up with a shock selection of a 3-5-2 formation featuring Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos and Nacho as a central back three. After weeks of looking defensively shabby and being easily cut up by opposition movement, Solari opted to simply jam pack the back line to avoid any repeats.

It also permitted Dani Carvajal and Sergio Reguilon to burst forward with less of a fear of what may happen in behind. The approach is similar to the role that Casemiro has played at times, dropping in to become a third defender. Here though, Casemiro could afford to stay in the middle, giving Luka Modric more space to roam, as occurred when he opened the scoring.

In particular, it protected Los Blancos from attacks on the break. Betis only managed two counter attacks in the full 90 minutes, with Madrids deep defensive line preventing any opportunity of catching them out. It worked to a tee, with Betis failing to register a shot on target in the first half, and may well be an option worth considering for the future. As Ramos and Marcelo age, if they are to be the first-choice defenders in the backline, such an approach may be fundamental to protecting themselves defensively.

An enforced change 

In the end, a worn out Reguilon, injury to Karim Benzema leaving the inexperienced Cristo Rodriguez as the sole striker and a Betis equaliser led to a change. Again though, it was not typical from Solari, going to a 4-4-2 of sorts, rather than his preferred 4-3-3. This was more dynamic in shape though, allowing each winger  Vinicius Junior and Ceballos, and later on Brahim Diaz  greater freedom to push forwards and support Cristo.

So many tactical changes have not been