UWCL 2022/23: How Real Madrid knocked out Man City with a convincing attacking performance – tactical analysis

Manchester City Women faced Real Madrid Women in the UEFA Women’s Champions League first round and exactly in the “League Path” final as they both won their first games against Tomiris Turan and Sturm.

Real Madrid Women were able to create the surprise once again this season after they succeeded in knocking out Manchester City from the competition last year in a similar way. But this time, things finished in a single match for them and it was a shocking exit for the Citizens.

The team will have to reflect on their performances and see why they failed twice in reaching the UWCL group stage despite being one of the top FAWSL teams at the moment. At the same time, this win will give much confidence to Real Madrid ahead of their journey both in the Spanish league and in the UWCL itself. Winning against a big team like Manchester City is always can always have a boosting impact and it will contribute to making the team much more solid in the upcoming games.

In this tactical analysis, our focus will be mainly on Manchester City’s mistakes and what lacked their performance as well as analysing Real Madrid’s attacking performance and tactics and exploring how they were able to overcome Manchester City’s threats.

Line-ups

Before beginning the analysis, let’s take a look at both formations. Manchester City started the match according to the 4-3-3 formation with Ellie Roebuck as a goalkeeper, Esme Morgan, Laia Aleixandri, Alex Greenwood and Leila Ouahabi in defence, Keira Walsh, former Barcelona’s Vicky Losada and Mary Fowler in midfield, Lauren Hemp as a left winger, Chloe Kelly on the right wing and Khadija Shaw as a striker.

On the other side, Real Madrid were lined-up according to the 4-4-1-1 formation with Misa Rodríguez in goal,      Kenti Robles, Kathellen Sousa, Ivana Andrés and Olga Carmona in defence, Sandie Toletti and Claudia Zornoza as defensive midfielders, Naomie Feller and Athenea del Castillo on the wings, former Manchester City’s Caroline Weir as an advanced playmaker and Esther González as the team’s striker.

Real Madrid’s convincing performance

Real Madrid did not start this game playing defensive football or leaving the space for Manchester City to attack. On the contrary, they made sure to start disturbing their opponent since the start and keep creating attacking situations for themselves in order to score. Their left wing was extremely dynamic during the game and the signals came from the 7^th minute of the match when Carmona received a backward pass and immediately decided to shoot the ball from distance towards the left corner, surprising everyone including the goalkeeper who saved the shot with a lot of difficulty because it was a powerful and a curled shot at the same time.