Champions League Performance Insights: Overloads out wide and tactical tweaks
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UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou analyses further tactical intricacies from Manchester City and Real Madrid's Champions League round of 16 second leg.
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In his summing up of this week's Manchester City vs Real Madrid encounter, UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou described it as a match of contrasting styles. With Pep Guardiola's home side three goals behind in this Champions League round of 16 tie, what unfolded was a second leg marked by "dominance by City and Real just waiting for that one moment when they could break through".
Beyond that initial summary of Madrid's 2-1 victory, there were other details that caught the eye of Postecoglou and the UEFA game insights unit, including how Álvaro Arbeloa's Madrid were set up to disrupt City's defensive organisation – and Guardiola's response which enabled City, despite having a man less after Bernardo Silva's dismissal, to dominate much of the second half.
Man City's aggressive start
The first aspect to focus on, though, is City's aggressive, high-intensity start. Ahead of this week's second legs, we anticipated fast starts, and this contest was no exception.
The key to this was Guardiola deploying a deliberate overload on the right-hand side, as shown by the graphic above which highlights the average positions of Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders when City had possession in the opening quarter-hour.
This overload is the main feature of the video below which also shows their threat from winger Jeremy Doku. He had space to attack on the left as a direct consequence of the overload on the other side and, in clip two, he is seen running at his full-back and teeing up the shooting chance for Cherki. Doku's menace is reflected by the fact he attempted 14 dribbles, seven of which were successful, and made five key passes.
City also got plenty of bodies in and around the box though amid their early push, it is worth noting also the role of centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov who stayed deeper with a brief to mark Vinícius Júnior.
Impact of Real Madrid's own wide overloads
City were not alone in looking for wide overloads and after Tuesday's match, Guardiola reflected on a challenge that Madrid had presented with their positioning. Praising the approach of Arbeloa, Guardiola said: "His performance today was very good, opening up the midfield to the outside with three or four players on the wings."
This graphic illustrates Guardiola's point, showing how 54% of the combined first-half ball receptions by midfielders Arda Güler and Thiago Pitarch came in the two widest channels of the pitch.
This is highlighted further by the video below in which we see several examples of Madrid midfielders stepping out wide and giving their team 'triple width' at times, given the usual presence out there of the full-back and winger.
This 'triple width' is evident in clip one, for example, where we see Pitarch out by the near touchline, joining the full-back and winger. It created a challenge for a City side who were squeezing high up the pitch, underpinned by their high defensive line. As Postecoglou explained: "There definitely was a deliberate attempt to drag players out wide and create gaps in the defensive line and make those spaces beyond the high line even more evident."
Despite this challenge, in clip one City are successful in regaining the ball, though in clip two the gaps mentioned by Postecoglou do appear while clip three features Madrid's success in taking advantage, with the sequence leading to the penalty award that brought their first goal and Bernardo Silva's red card. Guardiola admitted afterwards that "we weren't getting to the wings well with four players, with their speed and players making runs into space."
Man City switch to three centre-backs
With a half-time switch from the ever-innovative Guardiola, City found a solution that enabled them to control better the problem above and dominate a lot of the second period, as reflected by the graphic showing that 70% of the period from 45-60 minutes took place in Madrid's half. In that time, City had eight shots and Madrid one.
On the detail of Guardiola's adjustment, he changed City's shape as he sent on two centre-backs in Marc Guéhi and Nathan Aké, who replaced Rúben Dias and Matheus Nunes. With those two substitutes and Khusanov, City now had a back three, with Cherki and Rayan Aït-Nouri operating as wing-backs. "With five we were getting more into the final third," asserted Guardiola and the video below gives an example of their attacking threat early in the second half.
"Pep at half-time made tactical tweaks that allowed them to stay very much in the game," reflected Postecoglou. "They had more of a stable foundation by switching to the back three and having two wide men who stayed wide. The tactical switch and their mindset kept them very much in the game and minimised the effect of Real having the extra player. It was only really when Kylian Mbappé came on and the game gets stretched that you looked like they were a man short."
Finally, as Postecoglou emphasised, City's altered shape permitted them to carry on playing to their core beliefs. "It gave them a structure to say, 'With ten men, we can maintain dominance in the way we want to play our football'."
Coaching reflection: How a solid foundation helps amid tactical flux
Guardiola's change above offers a strong example of the tactical duels that take place between elite coaches – and how tweaks can affect a game. Being able to adjust to shifting circumstances on the pitch is crucial for both coaches and players.
One key point according to Postecoglou is that players, when being asked to adjust, benefit from having a clear sense of their identity as a team. As with Guardiola and City, any in-game tweaks can help support the overriding philosophy.
"The biggest challenge for any young manager is when do you get to the point where there's clarity about the way you want your team to play that will surpass any immediate challenges you may face?" said Postecoglou.
"In a big game like that, where you know what's on the line and you're dealt the worst possible hand, there's a group of players who are absolutely crystal clear on what the coach wants and I think that allows the players then to be able to deal with the circumstances that because they know 'This is who we are, this is how we play, this is what our manager has made us believe in'."
For Postecoglou, therefore, having that "solid foundation", as City do means that players can keep sight of the bigger picture. "It's a case of 'We're going to have to adjust a little bit', but the basic principles of 'We want to play, we want to press, we want to be aggressive' remain."
Having established his coaching reputation in Australia, Greece-born Ange Postecoglou took his attacking style of play to Europe, winning a domestic double and then a domestic treble in two seasons at Celtic, before steering Tottenham to UEFA Europa League glory in 2024/25.
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