Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City visit Real Madrid this Tuesday (9:00 pm) in a match that amounts to the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. They had already faced each other last year, but the ‘citizen’ team, although retaining the essence, was not exactly the same team. It has undergone some tactical changes to discuss.
1
In Haaland there is already ‘9’
Manchester City lacked scoring ‘9’. Gabriel Jesus was not like that, and on many occasions Pep Guardiola’s men played without reference. The arrival of Haaland solved that matter because even though he is more than that, the Norwegian is undoubtedly a scoring striker. In addition, Juliñan Álvarez was in the room.
2
Centers, wings and vice versa
Throughout this course we have seen that Guardiola’s pulse does not waver when it comes to positioning a central defender as a winger. The clear example of this is Nathan Aké, who is a doubt for this game, but Manuel Akanji also fills that role. Because of this, we see dynamic systems between the back three center backs and the defense four, which differ significantly when they have the ball compared to when they don’t.
3
The role of John Stones
Putting aside the fact that he is sometimes even seen as a ‘right-back centre-back’ suddenly, the English defender has grown into his own nature. He starts as a central defender, but the fact that Guardiola sometimes combines four central defenders together (some operate on the flanks) means that they end up in a defense of three and Stones becomes a type of midfielder. And because of this, it works like a charm.
4
Grealish steps forward
Accustomed to being the footballer around whom everyone revolved at Aston Villa, his first year at Manchester City, as another, was not good. However, this year he seems to understand his role better and has been able to carve out space to be important from the left wing. So much so that he enjoyed the vitola of title. His inclusion there meant that players such as Bernardo Silva and Mahrez changed their role and, in the Algerian’s case, suffered a loss of prominence.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
