Roma led 3–1 at 82 minutes. Then Güler took three corners and Madrid won 4–3.
The numbers
| Real Madrid | AS Roma | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 46% | 54% |
| Shots | 16 | 14 |
| On target | 8 | 7 |
| xG | 1.43 | 1.41 |
| Touches in opp. box | 36 | 24 |
| Corners | 9 | 5 |
Result the chances deserved: Real Madrid 38% / 25% / AS Roma 37% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Courtois, Dumfries, Konaté, Rüdiger, Cucurella, Valverde, Tchouaméni, Diomande, Bellingham, Vinícius Jr, Mbappé.
AS Roma (3-4-2-1): Gollini, Mancini, N'Dicka, Hermoso, Wesley, de Roon, Koné, Molina, Soulé, Dybala, Malen.
Roma subs: Pisilli (17', Koné, injured), Rodrigo Mora (46', Dybala), Pellegrini & Balerdi (64', Soulé & Mancini), Koulierakis (81', Hermoso). Roma coach: Gian Piero Gasperini. Gollini started in goal for the injured Svilar (Sofascore).
Sub minutes from FotMob; Sofascore agrees, Football Italia has a few of them a minute earlier. Roma's shape: FotMob lists 3-4-1-2, Goal calls it 3-4-3; it is drawn here as 3-4-2-1. Goal minutes follow FotMob and Sofascore (Espí 83' as in Sofascore and Opta Analyst; FotMob has 82'); Real Madrid's report puts de Roon's goal at 16' and the last two at 87' and 89'. Mbappé had a goal ruled out for offside at 67'. Espí's goal was ruled out at first and then given after a VAR check. Booked: Mancini, Wesley, Pellegrini (Roma); Carreras (Madrid).
Key moments, move by move
- Dybala presses Madrid's build-up and wins the ball back.
- Roma move it on to Soulé.
- Soulé lays it back to de Roon, about 25 yards out.
- De Roon hits it first time. It deflects off Malen and wrong-foots Courtois.
- Diomande heads the ball on towards Roma's left-sided centre-back, Hermoso.
- Hermoso misjudges it and Mbappé takes the ball off him.
- Mbappé drives to the edge of the box.
- His powerful shot takes a deflection and beats Gollini.
- Vinícius tries a backheel in midfield and loses the ball.
- Mora, on at half-time, picks it up and plays Malen through.
- Malen controls it first time and gets past Valverde.
- His shot deflects off Valverde on the way past Courtois (LiveScore, Football Italia).
- Soulé threads a pass through the middle, behind Madrid's centre-backs.
- Malen runs on to it, one-on-one with Courtois.
- He finishes low across the keeper. The flag goes up, but Valverde stepped up too late and played him onside, and VAR lets the goal stand (LiveScore, Football Italia).
- The corner is played short and Güler swings it in.
- Endrick heads it at goal. Gollini saves but cannot hold it.
- Espí, on for four minutes, taps in the rebound. It is ruled out at first, then given after a VAR check.
- Two minutes later Güler takes another corner.
- Endrick rises in the box with no one challenging him (Opta Analyst).
- His header flies in at the near post: 3–3.
- Güler's third corner of the spell comes in.
- At the back post Rüdiger shrugs off Wesley and Balerdi (Football Italia).
- He volleys it past Gollini: 3–4 in the 90th minute.
An hour of Roma's press, then Mourinho's changes and Güler's corners
- Roma's plan: a 3-4-2-1 that pushed both wing-backs, Molina and Wesley, into a five-man front line and jumped onto Madrid's first pass (Goal). Mourinho said Soulé's move to the wing "surprised us" and made a numerical advantage there. Madrid had one shot on target and 0.28 xG before half-time (Stats Perform, via FotMob).
- Losing it in midfield: Madrid defended in a 4-4-2 mid-block (Goal), with Valverde and Tchouaméni often outnumbered. Roma's first two goals started with balls won in midfield: Dybala's press for the opener, and Vinícius's lost backheel for Malen's first (beIN). Malen's second came from a pass through the middle that bypassed Tchouaméni (Goal).
- The 59' double change: Güler came on for right-back Dumfries and Endrick for Vinícius. Goal says Güler played as an inside playmaker and that Madrid finished in an all-out 3-2-5 after Bernardo Silva (70') and Espí (79') came on. Madrid had seven shots on target and 1.15 xG in the second half (Stats Perform, via FotMob).
- The corners: Madrid won nine corners to Roma's five (Sofascore). The last three goals all came from Güler corners in eight minutes, against a back line Gasperini had changed: Mancini off at 64', Hermoso at 81'. Gasperini said Roma looked "paralysed with fear on those corners".
Tactical scenes
Roma jumped onto Madrid's first pass and pushed both wing-backs into the front line (Goal). Mourinho said Soulé on the wing gave Roma a numerical advantage there, and Goal's ratings say Roma's wing-backs pinned Cucurella back and doubled up on Vinícius. Dybala's press won the ball for the opener (beIN).
Evidence: Madrid had one shot on target and 0.28 xG in the first half (Stats Perform, via FotMob). Over the match Roma had 54% of the ball (FotMob). FotMob news (Stats Perform): Madrid unstoppable, says Mourinho · FotMob match page · Goal: the tactics board
Recreate it in FM26
Real Madrid · Mourinho's mid-block and counter in Rome · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Mourinho's mid-block and counter in Rome
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Courtois | Goalkeeper | Line-Holding Keeper |
| RB | Dumfries | Wing-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Konaté | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Rüdiger | Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Cucurella | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RDM | Valverde | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Tchouaméni | Defensive Midfielder | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Diomande | Inside Forward | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Bellingham | Attacking Midfielder | Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Vinícius Jr | Inside Forward | Inside Outlet Winger |
| ST | Mbappé | Channel Forward | Central Outlet Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Attacking TransitionCounter-Attack
- Passing DirectnessMore Direct
- Supporting RunsBoth Flanks
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementMid Block
- Trigger PressLess Often
- Defensive TransitionRegroup
The idea: A 4-2-3-1 that defends in a 4-4-2 Mid Block and breaks behind high wing-backs for a fast Channel Forward. It needs two midfielders who can cope when the opponent puts three in the middle; in Rome they could not.
What FM26 can't copy: The comeback came from the 59' changes, the late 3-2-5 and Güler's corners, and FM26 cannot set a substitution plan or a corner routine as a team instruction.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Güler on at 46' (for Dumfries), not 59', Endrick on at 46' (for Vinícius), not 59', Camavinga on at 46' (for Tchouaméni). Keep the shape but make the changes at half-time: Güler and Endrick turned the game once they came on, and a fresher midfield might have stopped Malen's two goals in six minutes. Madrid still win it the hard way, but sooner. It moves Real Madrid's win chance from 38% to 51% (xG 1.43–1.41 becomes 1.83–1.26). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Real Madrid needed
Arda Güler
Madrid had one shot on target before half-time. Güler came on for a right-back, played inside and took the three corners that turned 3–1 into 3–4. Starting him gives Madrid a passer between the lines against Roma's press from the first minute.
Moisés Caicedo
Roma's goals came from balls won or played through Madrid's midfield, where Valverde and Tchouaméni were outnumbered. Caicedo covers ground sideways, wins the ball back in that zone and helps the full-back when the opponent overloads a wing, as Roma did with Soulé.
What the analysts said
“It was two games in one – Roma were superior in every aspect for the first half.”José Mourinho, to Amazon Prime Video Italia (via FotMob/Stats Perform)
“They surprised us at the start by using Matias Soule on the wing and creating superiority in that area.”José Mourinho, after the match (via beIN SPORTS/Stats Perform)
“The first half was the coach's fault; the second half was the players' fault.”José Mourinho (Goal)
“In the final minutes it was as if we were paralysed with fear on those corners.”Gian Piero Gasperini, to Sky Sport Italia and Amazon Prime Video Italia (via FotMob/Stats Perform)
“I have no words. It was a match that was in our hands, and we lost it on three corners.”Matías Soulé, to Prime Video (translated from Italian, via Fantacalcio)
“I genuinely thought that in the last 20 minutes I had substitutions I could make.”José Mourinho, after the match (via Kuwait Times)
Roma were the better side for an hour, and Madrid won it with three corners.
What's happening. Madrid were 3–1 down in Rome with eight minutes left and won 4–3. Espí, Endrick and Rüdiger scored, all from Güler corners. Opta Analyst says no away side had ever come back from two down that late to win a Champions League game. Madrid have won both league-phase games.
How it works. Gasperini's Roma pressed Madrid's first pass and pushed both wing-backs high, so Madrid's wide players kept facing two men. Madrid's 4-4-2 block left two central midfielders against three, and the ball kept getting lost there. Mourinho's answer was more attackers, not a new defensive plan: a playmaker for a right-back, a striker for a winger, then a 3-2-5. It works against a back line that has run for an hour. It also leaves big gaps if it fails.
What the shots say. FotMob's xG is almost dead level over the 90 minutes. The halves are not: Madrid made almost nothing before the break and most of their chances after it. One reading: the changes earned the comeback, and Madrid were the more dangerous side for the last half hour. The other: on open-play chances Roma were at least as good, and three goals from three corners is not something a team can count on.