Tactical turmoil: How Ancelotti’s decisions cost Real Madrid against Barcelona

The first thing I thought after the first Clásico in October was to blame the players more than the coach. However, after re-watching that match, I quickly came to the conclusion that Ancelotti set his team up for disaster. Fast forward to January and the same mistakes were made again. Barcelona may be a better team than Madrid right now, but they are not 9-2 better in two games. Regardless of the current defensive roster, Ancelotti exacerbated those problems by continuing to insist on an incohesive press, undefined roles and an overly aggressive defense, which played into Barcelona’s hands.

In the first goal conceded, summarized below, the space between the four defenders and the midfield is enormous. The rear needed to get between 5 and 10 meters closer to the double pivot of Camavinga and Fede. That trigger should have been recognized at the moment when Mbappé and Vini decided to put pressure on Barcelona’s defense.

The backline held firm, widening the gap with the midfield as Barcelona teased Fede and Camavinga forward. Mendy misread the play and allowed Lamine Yamal to get ahead of him. At the same time, Lewandowski dropped into the huge space between the lines, picked up the ball and passed to Lamine. Rudiger came off late and Mendy was on the wrong side of Lamine, causing Madrid’s entire defensive shape to collapse.

Tchouameni had a chance to save the play, but he committed too much and failed to cut off Lamine Yamal’s shooting angle. The centre-back needed to force Lamine to move forward with his right foot and advance along the backline.

In the third goal conceded, Courtois started the play with a long ball straight into the field, where Vinícius lost the first aerial duel against Araújo. Astutely, Casado placed himself in a central position, releasing Koundé on the right wing. Bellingham, who was normally tasked with guarding Casado man-to-man, occupied the dead space. He should have moved to the left to contest the second ball or at least deny Koundé the opportunity to raise his head and find Raphinha.

Lucas-Tchouaméni’s nightmare was even worse upon seeing it a second time. Time and time again, the two were caught off guard, allowed too much space between them, and didn’t understand when to press or how to cover each other. In the sequence above, Raphinha slips into the space between the two and seizes the opportunity. They were school mistakes made by the couple repeatedly. At the highest level, when you don’t have natural defenders in those positions, you will be punished.

The fifth goal conceded, almost immediately after the break and after Rodrygo hit the post, may be the most frustrating of all. What happened? Real Madrid put unnecessary pressure… again. Take a look at the tweets below from the October Classic and notice a recurring theme:

In the clip above, Lucas ran into the opponent’s 18-yard box to support Rodrygo and close down Balde. Bellingham then allowed Casado to slide down the goal side, and the rest of the midfield was high up the field marking man for man. Huge gaps developed and Casado simply played a one-touch pass into the space behind. The unnecessary press collapsed in seconds. Tchouaméni, who is also not a natural defender, was forced into the awkward position of being in the midfield (1v1 against Raphinha), essentially operating as a right-back. Ancelotti put him in a position to fail. There was simply no need to press and play into Barcelona’s hands.

The next two sequences highlight the gulf of space between Tchouaméni and Lucas, and how Raphinha took advantage of that space with his off-ball movement. The disconnect between the two players is incomprehensible. Defensive Training 101 emphasizes looking across the line, making sure there are no gaps, staying together, and moving as a unit. Lucas and Tchouaméni were on their own islands, completely disconnected from each other and the backline.

When Balde ran towards Lucas in the clip above, the Madrid defender had no idea whether to continue falling or step forward to confront Balde. He chose neither option and was trapped between two minds, essentially in no man’s land. He finally decided to talk to Bucket, but he left too much room to exert significant pressure. Tchouaméni needed to recognize Lucas’ decision and follow Raphinha’s move. Instead, he stood still and maintained his position. Rudiger rescued him, leaving Tchouaméni essentially useless in the entire defensive sequence.

While individual errors (particularly from Lucas and Tchouaméni, who were in over their heads) were evident, Ancelotti’s tactics and the team’s unnecessarily aggressive nature magnified those errors and made his players look worse than necessary. Not learning from October’s Clasico makes this match even more damning. One truth remains after another embarrassing defeat: Ancelotti is failing his players.