Athletic Bilbao’s Defensive Organization
Athletic Bilbao’s Press
As is customary with Erneste Valverde’s Basque side, Athletic Bilbao employed an intensive press designed to rattle the composure of opposing back-lines and central midfielders. Valverde achieved this with a simple, but effective, 4-4-2 formation in defense, with Sabin and Eraso tasked with pressuring Madrid’s center-backs and deep central midfielder.
If Madrid played the ball wide, either Sabin or Eraso (depending on who was closer to the flank in question) would rush the man on the ball with the aid of either Raul García or Inaki Williams. Whilst the striker cut off the central passing lane back to Kroos, the winger would also block the path to the fullback.
To dissuade Madrid from playing a vertical pass to the winger, Athletic’s fullbacks pushed up to mark Bale and Ronaldo. This put immense pressure on not only the accuracy of Madrid’s passes, but also on the touches of Madrid’s ball receivers.
Athletic Bilbao’s Medium Block
However, it would be a mistake to say that Athletic committed to a persistent press for all phases of the game. Instead, they mainly focused on pressing when the ball was circulated back to the goalkeeper or when play restarted from a goal kick. In all other situations, Athletic chose to engage in a medium to high defensive block that extended from the 35 yard line on either side of the halfway line.
This was again structured in the framework of a 4-4-2, with Eraso and Sabin sitting narrow to block off any obvious passes to the center of the pitch. On the occasions where Toni Kroos was able to find a smart vertical pass to a player in the center of the middle third, the two central midfielders in Rico and José would immediately converge on the man on the ball.
While this aggressive style led to a lot of fouls...
...it also created dangerous counter-attacking opportunities, with the best example being Inaki William’s chance in the 5th minute.
As you can see in the snapshot above, Athletic Bilbao are roughly structured in a 4-4-2 and are just recovering their defensive shape after focusing their attentions on Madrid’s right flank. Seeing a structural weakness caused by this transition, Kroos plays a smart pass into Ronaldo, who also must be given credit for dropping deep to exploit the situation.
However, Athletic Bilbao’s central midfielders are on top of things, snapping immediately at Ronaldo’s heels the second he receives the ball.
Unable to hold them off, Ronaldo loses possession, allowing Athletic Bilbao to create a 4 vs. 3 overload that leads to an excellent Inaki Williams chance.
Real Madrid’s Build-up in the Defensive & Middle Thirds of the Pitch
As impressive as all of this was from the Basques, Real Madrid regularly penetrated the final third in the first 27 minutes of the game.
Real Madrid’s Structure
Unlike in previous occasions when Madrid were pressed, Zidane set his side up in an impressive positional structure that made it easy for his players to beat Athletic’s high pressure and medium block.
Understanding that it would be easier for Athletic to press players that were bunched up together, Zidane instructed his center backs to push wide to the edges of their keeper’s box when building play from the back. To ensure that a focal point for possession was not lost, Kroos was asked to drop in line with Varane and Pepe.
With the defensive third already occupied by three able ball distributors, Marcelo and Carvajal were asked to push up as passing options beyond Athletic’s press and medium block. This often involved off-the-ball movements in-between the half spaces and the wings, in order to make Inaki William’s and Raul García’s marking duties more difficult.
To provide an overload against Athletic’s wide press, Isco and Kovacic abandoned their central positions to create a passing triangle between Ronaldo-Marcelo and Bale-Carvajal. If Los Blancos’ fullbacks were not in position to complete this triangle due to movements meant to shake off their marker, the closest center back would step up to fill the void.
Real Madrid’s Combination Play
Once this structure was set, Real Madrid looked to play quick passing combinations on the flanks to dodge Athletic’s pressure and advance to the final third. This required excellent passing accuracy, perfect first touches from the ball receivers, and world class chemistry, making it difficult for Madrid to complete 100% of all their plays (Bale’s back-flick to no one in the opening minutes of the game is a good example of this).
But when it did come off, Athletic were often left exposed, forcing them to either foul a Madrid player or concede a dangerous attack.
The above play is a good example of how Madrid went about this, with Athletic pressing Madrid’s right flank with one of their strikers and a left-winger. Isco, who was originally more central, gravitates towards his right to create a passing triangle between himself, Carvajal, and Pepe.
Seeing a slim space to play a vertical pass, Pepe distributes the ball to Isco, who moves fully to the right wing. This successful completion takes the two Athletic pressers out of the game, enabling Isco to create a passing combination with Pepe and Carvajal to advance Madrid into the final third.
Understanding Athletic’s vulnerability, Carvajal charges forward after Isco flicks the ball back into Pepe, who promptly feeds the ball to his fullback. In that moment, Los Merenegues were primed to take advantage of a massive central space in between Athletic’s midfield and defense (in part created by BBC’s advanced positioning stretching Athletic’s compactness), but the Athletic player saw the danger and fouled Carvajal to stop the attack.
Real Madrid’s Counter-Attack
But this wasn’t the only way Real Madrid created chances, as they looked to execute fast breaks as soon as they won the ball back. This often involved lots of direct passes to Madrid’s front three in the hope of exploiting Athletic Bilbao’s high defensive line.
This led to Madrid’s first goal, as Marcelo counterpressed to win the ball back inside his own half (after a failed passing combination between him and Ronaldo meant to break the Athletic press), before immediately launching a long ball to the right flank. Isco, who pushed into an advanced position, received the ball and managed to beat his marker with a bit of luck, before passing the ball to Benzema who scored emphatically.
Athletic Bilbao’s Goal Completely Rattled Real Madrid
With Real Madrid playing fast and attractive possession football and with a goal in hand, it looked like Los Blancos were going to ease to victory over a very tough opponent. However, Athletic Bilbao and Madrid’s defense had other plans.
After making a run down the right flank that beat both Benzema and Marcelo in the 27th minute, fullback Lekue crossed the ball into the box to Eraso, who took a bad first touch into the path of both Varane and Pepe. Looking completely lost, the two central defenders flopped comically around the ball, allowing an incredulous Eraso to poke the ball into the path of goal scorer Sabin.
As bad as that piece defending was, it was shocking to see Madrid totally deflate and lose concentration. Instead of keeping their positional structure and looking to work the ball into the box as they had done before, Madrid resorted to slapping long balls down the flank before pumping crosses into the box.
This allowed Athletic’s press to become more successful, before they made the odd decision of shrinking into a more reserved defensive shape in the second half.
Marginalized in this abrupt tactical change was Isco and Kovacic, the latter of which completely disappeared from the game after Athletic’s goal. Isco was the only player who provided any penetration through the center, as he doggedly dipped into the half spaces to create passing triangles on both flanks.
Apparently needing more crosses and less penetration through the middle, Zidane made the mind-boggling decision to sub off Isco for Lucas Vázquez in the 65th minute. This sealed Madrid into a one-dimensional attacking approach and hung the game’s balance on the lottery of crosses. Luckily for Madrid, Zidane’s second substitution proved to be a better one, as birthday boy Alvaro Morata got onto Bale’s cross to fire straight at the keeper before turning the ball home from close range.
Select Player Performances
Isco
Rating: 8.5/10
As mentioned before, Isco did a fantastic job with his off-the-ball movement to create passing options through the center for Real Madrid. Additionally, his dribbling and ball control proved to be a valuable tool in breaking down Athletic’s medium block, as he often managed to turn past the convergence of Athletic Bilbao’s central midfielders, thereby knocking two players out of the game.
Key Statistics: 72 touches, 1 assist, 3 key passes, 3 dribbles, 3 fouls drawn, 44/53 passes completed, 1/2 crosses completed, 4/8 long balls completed, 1 tackle, 2 interceptions
Cristiano Ronaldo
Rating: 6/10
On the other hand, Ronaldo didn’t have a very good night. While his off-the-ball movement was varied and he did get into good attacking situations, his decision making and finishing was often poor. His decision to shoot instead of passing to Benzema, after beating a player off-the-dribble, will haunt him, along with his startling one-on-one miss late in the second half.
Key Statistics: 46 touches, 2/11 shots on target, 2 dribbles, 1 foul drawn, 22/25 passes completed, 1/2 crosses completed, 3 clearances
(All statistics & charts taken from whoscored.com and fourfourtwo statszone)