Having demolished the Kashima Antlers, Real Madrid won the Club World Cup final by seeing off host side Al Ain in the final in Abu Dhabi. Santiago Solaris side rarely got out of first gear in a comfortable win over the side from the Middle East, with strikes from Luka Modric, Marcos Llorente, Sergio Ramos and an own goal leading to a 4-1 win. Here, our tactical analysis will use statistics to identify what key points Real Madrid can take from the game as they won the Club World Cup for a third consecutive time.
Bale is back
After a hat-trick in the semi-final, Gareth Bales confidence was flying and it was clear for all to see. Solari has given Bale more freedom in attack, allowing him to return to the left-hand side where he feels more comfortable, after months of being deployed on the right. With this freedom, the Welshman roamed around in attack, dropping deep and looking to make rapid runs which simply blew away the opposition defence who could not keep up with his pace nor movement.
In the final, Bale could not add to his three goals from the semi-final, but he still collected the award for the best player of the tournament. He came close to notching though, with an xG of 0.97 and many opportunities that some would feel he should have done better with. It was promising though, to see Bale get into the right positions and make runs which he has not been making in recent weeks. Whether that was down to injuries or lack of motivation, only he knows, but against Al Ain, he was far more active in making those quick dashes which can tear opposition backlines apart.
Only once in the past three years has Bale achieved more than the 12 touches in the box that he recorded against Al Ain, and that kind of desire and involvement is exactly what has been lacking. Real Madrid need a focal point to lead and be daring in attack. After an anonymous few months at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, he finally appears to be at his best. He may be ruing the arrival of the winter break just as he finds form, but building consistency in 2019 is now Bales next big challenge.
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