Champions League Final Tactical Review: What happened in Paris?

Last Saturday, the biggest football match of the 2021–22 season was played in Paris. It was the crème de la crème, the final match of the UEFA Champions League competition.

, of Spain, was going head-to-head against

, of England and 75,000 people gathered from all over the world to witness the biggest football match of the season at Stade de France, and in the end, it was the Spaniards who won the game and were crowned as Europe’s champions for the 14th time in their magnificent history.

This was the first final to be played in front of a full attendance since 2019 final, as the previous two finals were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The game was officiated by Frenchman, Clément Turpin, while he was joined by four of his fellow countrymen, including assistant referees Nicolas Danos and Cyril Gringore. Benoît Bastien served as the fourth official, while Jérôme Brisard acted as the video assistant referee (VAR).

It was a game full of heart, passion, desire, and of course a tactical fight between two of the most prestigious managers in modern football.

Champions League Final Tactical Review:

In this article, we want to go through what happened in the game between these two giants and see how they tried to dictate their style of play to steal the crown’s jewel. Also, we review the statistics and individual performances that had the most effects in this final.

Teams Review

Let’s start with the champions, Real Madrid. La Liga champions, Real Madrid, were targeting a record-extending 14th Champions League and European Cup success, and they rarely lose when reaching the final.

On only three occasions out of 17 have Madrid failed to finish the job off when down to the final two - the most recent in 1981, when beaten by Liverpool in Paris.

This season,

's side have entertainingly eliminated holders Chelsea, French champions, Paris Saint-Germain, and England’s champions,

to reach this point - the latter thanks to a late Rodrygo double to force extra-time in the semi-final before Karim Benzema then decided the tie with a penalty.

Real Madrid’s journey during this season’s Champion League was one the most difficult roads that could have happened to any team, but Madridistas are used to magical Champions League nights.

Having cruised to the Spanish title with weeks to spare, Los Blancos managed only one win from their final four La Liga fixtures but were primed for the showpiece occasion.

On the other hand, seeking a seventh continental crown from 10 final appearances, Liverpool could have moved into joint second with Milan in the all-time list of champions by lifting the trophy.

The Reds would, though, still trail in the wake of their opponents, who ran out winners when the clubs last clashed in the final, four years ago in Kyiv. Liverpool players had also mentioned that the final was meant to be a revenge game for them due to their 2018 finals disappointment.

This year, the EFL and FA Cup winners have seen off Inter, Benfica, and

en route to Paris, and a second-leg loss to the former back in March represents their last defeat anywhere.

Though they narrowly missed out on being crowned Premier League champions,

's side has since enjoyed an 18-game unbeaten run - including 10 wins from their last 11.

Real Madrid Tactics

Real Madrid started the game with a 4-3-3 formation with their perfect Trio in Midfield; Casemiro, Modric, and

. Vinicius and Benzema in the attack with Fede Valverde as a right-wing. Real Madrid's strategy was to control the pace of the game in the first half.

They were trying to build up from their goalkeeper whenever they had the ball in the middle of the park. They tried to make vertical passes between their full-backs, using their midfielders and they knew they have the quality to do so.

Toni Kroos, specifically, was very important in doing so, he is a player with fantastic vision and magical touch that can open up a play like nobody else.

Also, Casemiro's movement was very clinical, because he would either help Toni Kroos make a triangle with one of the center-defenders while they were under Liverpool's press or he was going forward, bringing an attacking player from Liverpool with him to open up some space for Tony Kroos to decide what he wants to do with the ball and how he wants to orchestrate Real Madrid's attack.

Luka Modric, Real Madrid's previous Ballon d'Or winner, was also another pivotal player in Real Madrid's build-up, especially on the right side of the field with Valverde. The Croatian turns and dribbles dazzled Liverpool, all game long.

Madrid's plan was almost obvious throughout 90 minutes; start the build-up from defense, try to get past the first line of press from Liverpool while taking advantage of the number of players in the Midfield, then go straight to the sides.

Specifically, to the left side where a speedster like Vinicius is ready to penetrate the defense and find the space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold.

On other occasions, they tried to pull Benzema back from his main position, which is center-forward, and play him as more of a number 10 player in the field where he takes the ball from the midfield and tries to pass it to the wings for wingers to take the ball high up in the field and later find Benzema around the 18-yard box to finish the job for them.

Carlo Ancelotti has a very clear plan when it's come to his team's style of play. He's very unique and very good at seeing the strength of the players in his squad and finding a way to synchronize all of the players to work very well together in order to get the win for his side, and that was exactly what we saw Saturday night.

Real Madrid, throughout the season, was never a team to aggressively try to attack and make each position count as a goal opportunity. Rather than that, they try to keep their composure, keep trusting each other, and bring the ball layer by layer until finally see a blank space in between their opponent's defense and exploit that space to score goals.

Exactly the same thing happened at the end of the first half when Benzema found the space behind

and scored a goal but the goal was overruled due to an offside situation.

Their only goal also came from a similar situation; Modric takes the ball and tries to find the space and he pushes back while bringing two Liverpool players with him and creating a space for Carvajal to go forward, then, he accurately found Carvajal, and Carvajal passed a beautiful ball through two other Liverpool players to find Casemiro and create a triangle.

Casemiro then saw the opportunity for Valverde to make a run behind Anderson, who was pushing forward to press Carvajal. Valverde then, used his pace to go forward and into the box, while Van Dijk was trying to anticipate his next move, Valverde crossed a powerful but low ball into the far post where Vinicius was there to cut the ball and tap it into the goal, making it 1-0 for Real Madrid.

In defense, Real Madrid was not playing the 4-3-3 as we saw on our applications or on TV. Madrid rather played with a 4-1-4-1 formation with Casemiro being the player in between two blockages of defense and Vinicius and Valverde being the left and the right midfielders as the first line of defense.

This formation allowed Real Madrid to have the numerical advantage in the middle of the park where they could have isolated Liverpool's attackers in the middle by having Modric, Kroos, Casemiro,

, and Militao.

Also, covering the wings with their fullbacks and midfielders in order to stop Liverpool to arrange an attack from the sides, which is one of their main strengths.

Another important thing in Madrid's defense was Benzema's sacrifice which may have affected his position on the field, because he, from time to time, came back to help the defense and interrupt Liverpool's holding midfielder, Fabinho, from playmaking.

Most importantly, Madrid had Thibaut Courtois as their goalkeeper who gave us one of the best goalkeeping performances of his career, disappointing Liverpool time after time during the 90 minutes.

Liverpool Tactics

On the other side of the field, Liverpool started the game with a similar formation as Real Madrid, their classic 4-3-3 formation. One of the things that made Liverpool fans worried about the game was their midfielders’ physical health.

Thiago and Fabinho were both injured before the match and Liverpool fans thought that they may not be in their best condition to play in the

UEFA Champions League final

match. 

Though they were sure their attacking trio of Mane,

, and Luis Diaz will deliver them their seventh Champions League title. Liverpool's style of play is no secret to football fans; they play aggressive attacking football and create as many chances as possible, as soon as possible.

And they try to get the ball back as soon as possible, using their famous gegenpressing style of defense. Their plan was to push Real Madrid's defense as deep as possible and overload the sides with players to find a way to penetrate into Madrid's defense with prepared combinations.

They were quite successful in doing what they meant to do, but Madrid's defense, especially their goalkeeper, was really hard to open up and score against. Liverpool's defense also played very high on the pitch to prevent Real Madrid from counterattacks and stop their midfielders to send long balls behind the defensive line.

Liverpool is immensely dependent on their full-backs. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold are basically the two most important pieces of the puzzle for Jurgen Klopp because having those players, who can easily commute from defense to attack, gives the team the opportunity to create more options in attack and it also gives strikers and wingers the opportunity to cut inside or go deep in order to create numerical advantages when facing a deep defensive line.

This tactic, however useful, was very risky to do against a club like Real Madrid which is famous for its counter-attacks. Thus, Jurgen Klopp had seemingly instructed Robertson to be more aware of the space behind him but allowed Trent to move forward, freely.

This strategy helped Liverpool build a 3-membered defense with Robertson staying in the back, Van Dijk covering the center, and Konate being a little dragged to the right side, man-marking Vinicius. Maybe, if Liverpool could have maintained this routine, they might have never conceded a goal.

Because the goal came exactly at the moment when Robertson moved forward to press Carvajal and left a huge space for Valverde to bring the ball high up in the field, and finally pass it to Vinicius to finish the job. Nevertheless, Liverpool's attacks from the right side were successful almost all the time.

Mohamed Salah was really unlucky not to score against the Madrid team while shooting 6 shots on target. In the last 15 minutes of the game, after Real's goal, Jurgen Klopp decided to switch his team from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 formation in order to attack with an extra player. He brought in

and Firmino to replace Thiago and Henderson.

In doing so, Keita and Fabinho became the two midfield pivots, Jota and Salah became the players on the wings, and Mane stayed in the center, although now joined by Firmino in the center-forward position.

Firmino was more active in cutting inside and trying to receive the ball from midfielders and then distribute the ball either to wingers or create a combination with Mane.

This plan didn't work, unfortunately for Liverpool, because Real Madrid was still using a very robust defensive strategy, especially in the middle, overloading their Midfielders and center-backs in order to prevent Liverpool succeed in creating threats from small spaces.

In that specific area, which is known as zone 14, Liverpool players were always either in a 5vs2 or at best, 5vs4 situation, outnumbered by Real Madrid players.

Substitutions

If we want to take a look at the substitutions, neither team substitution players were able to change the rhythm of the game in any way, shape, or form. Liverpool did manage to change their formation but they were not able to impact the game as much as they wanted which was to score a goal.

Real Madrid made their substitutions very late in the game and they were not to change the formation, nor were they to change the style of play. They still tried to defend with a 4-1-4-1 formation.

After the substitution of Valverde and Modric, Camavinga and

was brought into the game; the Frenchman to play in front of Casemiro and alongside Kroos, and the Spaniard to play on the right side.

Rodrygo came to replace Vinicius on the left, as well. To sum it up, Liverpool targeted to change their formation and be more aggressive in attack with their substitutions, whereas Real Madrid was trying to increase the energy of their squad with their substitutions.

Statistics

Statistically speaking, Liverpool should have won the game; their xG (Expected goals) showed 2.2 while Real Madrid’s was 0.9, they passed the ball more (524 vs. 425), they had more of the ball position (54% vs. 46%), and surprisingly, they had six times more shots than Real Madrid (24 vs. 4).

On the other hand, Real Madrid was much more effective in their attacking; Madrid had three big chances and scored from one of them, while Liverpool only had two big chances out of their 24 shots and failed to find the net.

Also in defensive statistics, Real Madrid was superior in every single category; Tackles won 14 vs. 8, interceptions 14 vs 11, clearances 22 vs. 5, and 8 blocks vs. 1.

Individual Performances

In this section of the

Champions League final tactical review

, we discuss about the players’ individual performances.

Dani Carvajal

Coming into the final match Real Madrid fans had only one worry about their squad; their right-back player,

. Carvajal had been injured for the majority of the season and when he finally returned, he was not showing the performances you would expect from a world-class right back.

For example, in the game against PSG, Killian Mbappe clearly had the best of Carvajal and dominated the left side of the field. Later, in the game against Manchester City, Carvajal was performing better but still had some defensive mistakes. His performances in La Liga, we're also normal, per se.

But in the final, Carvajal was one of the best players on the field among all of the 28 players that played at night. He was as fit as a fiddle Saturday night in Paris and helped Real Madrid put a stop to almost all of Liverpool's attacks from their left side, where

and Andy Robertson were playing.

Carvajal had 100% successful dribbles and 100% successful tackles during the game, add to that two blocks, three clearances, and seven ball recoveries. Also, he was helpful to his team not only in defense but also in the offense; he made 2 accurate long balls, his passes were 85% correct and he won six ground duels.

His impact on the game, especially when Liverpool was pressing and Carvajal was able to find the right player with the right pass was almost perfect at all times. Real Madrid fans are definitely happy that Daniel Carvajal was fit to play Saturday night.

Casemiro

Right next to Carvajal, is Brazilian tank, Carlos Casemiro. Real Madrid's number 14 showed a monstrous defensive performance Saturday night against Liverpool in the

Champions League final

; 75% of his tackles were successful, and he had one block, four clearances, three interceptions, and six ball recoveries. Add to that, 8 ground duels won and winning all 5 aerial duels.

He was also the player who provided a beautiful pass to Valverde before the Uruguayan assisted Vinicius for Real Madrid's only goal.

has been the irreplaceable player for Real Madrid for the past 5 years and Saturday night he showed the world why you cannot play with a 4-3-3 formation without having a reliable defensive midfielder.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate

Talking about defensive performances, we cannot neglect

and

's performances. Everyone knew that Real Madrid is heavily dependent on their two main attacking options, which are Karim Benzema and Vinicius jr., and that it would be a hard test for Liverpool's right side of the defense to control and dismiss Real Madrid's attacking options in that area.

Something the duo of Arnold and Konate was successful to do. Konate, specifically, was in charge of man-marking Vinicius and he did an exceptional job in doing so; he had six ball recoveries from the Brazilian alone, and Trent, although was playing a little higher on the pitch, was able to make a mind-blowing number of 14 recoveries, either from Real Madrid strikers or their midfielders.

Granted, Arnold's offensive responsibilities were not carried out as Liverpool fans thought they would, but Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of the few players that had nearly no mistakes throughout the 90 minutes.

Even the goal was scored in a situation where Robertson fail to maintain his position and Virgil Van Dijk missed the opportunity to get the ball sooner from Valverde before the Uruguayan made the pass.

Thibaut Courtois

We save the best for last, the Belgian wall of Madrid in Stade de France, the 30-year-old goalkeeper,

. What a night it was for him! And what a performance! 9 saves while keeping a clean sheet in the UEFA Champions League final match against a team as aggressive as Liverpool with the quality of attackers they have is simply unbelievable.

Courtois had seven saves inside of the Box, alone. Five of them were diving saves, and one of them came in the 63rd minute of the game, right after Real's goal, as Mohamed Salah shot a beautiful curler and Courtois countered the shot with wonderful diving save.

Also, it was Courtois that stopped Real Madrid from conceding a goal early in the game while Mane made an attempt to score a goal with a heavy shot but it was Courtois's save, with a small help from the post that stopped Liverpool from scoring.

Another huge save came in the 82nd minute of the game in a one-on-one situation against Mo Salah, who shot the ball with his right foot into the opposite side of the goal but the Belgian reflexes were too quick and he was able to divert the ball from going into the net.

It is safe to say that if Thibaut Courtois was not standing between the posts of Real Madrid's goal Saturday night, Real Madrid would have had to play a very different match. In the end, Courtois well-deservingly won the "Man of the Match" award after the game.

Summary

Overall, it was a Clash of Titans, and the Spaniards came out victorious. Both teams played a very good game in defense and offense but in the end, it was Real Madrid's experience that helped them win their 14th title.

Real Madrid endured the pressure in the first half, they didn’t panic, and they stuck with their plan and scored their goal. Even after the goal, the Ancelotti boys didn’t get emotional and maintained their equanimity until the final whistle.

Maybe Liverpool was not expecting Courtois to have such an astonishing performance or maybe they could have, themselves, used their opportunities a lot better.

Maybe if Luis Diaz was to play in the second half, it would have given Liverpool's attack a more energy boost than Diego Jota, or maybe if Arnold's foot was just an inch behind Vinicius the goal would have overruled, but these are for Jurgen Klopp to think about.

Real Madrid, also, could have scored more goals, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game. But unfortunately for them, they miss those opportunities due to a lack of focus by their young players; Ceballos and Camavinga missed two opportunities. Nevertheless, it was a very close game and both squads did their best to neutral each other.

Carlo Ancelotti became the first manager to win four Champions League titles, having previously won the 2003 and 2007 tournaments with Milan, and the 2014 title with Madrid.

Conversely, Jurgen Klopp tied

for most losses in Champions League finals. Klopp had previously lost with Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and Liverpool in 2018.

Also, nine Real Madrid players secured their fifth Champions League title with the win (Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Dani Carvajal, Casemiro, Isco, Marcelo, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos, and Nacho).

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