La Liga 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Real Madrid vs Villarreal

Real Madrid‘s approach of coasting through to the end of the season with nothing to play for has given Zinedine Zidane a unique opportunity to experiment, even if it has meant that results have been compromised. Against Villarreal at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday in La Liga, Los Blancos secured their first win in three and maintained their fine home form, despite being without a win on the road since Zidane was appointed.

The hosts got off to a dream start as Brahim Díaz robbed Santi Cazorla of the ball deep in his own half to set up Mariano Díaz to break the deadlock after two minutes. Gerard Moreno levelled the scoreline minutes later in a remarkably similar move as Casemiro lost possession. Jesús Vallejo scored a second soon after for his first La Liga goal for the club and Mariano added another to decide the tie just after the break. Jaume Costa added a second for the visitors to keep hope alive deep into injury time, but it was too little, too late for the Yellow Submarine.

Our tactical analysis will use statistics to identify what key points Zidane can take from the game as his Real Madrid team secured the three points.

Lineups

Zidane opted to stick with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and was left with no choice but to select Mariano in attack, though he intriguingly left Gareth Bale out of the squad entirely. Vallejo, Federico Valverde and Brahim Díaz were all given the chance to continue to stake their claim whilst Vinicius Junior returned to the bench after injury and made a second half cameo.

Villarreal were without Carlos Bacca in attack, but Vicente Iborra and Alfonso Pedraza also came in to add some more solidity in the defensive phase. Pedraza has played in defence for much of the campaign but relished his chance back on the wing.