Valencia sat in a back five, and Madrid played around it and behind it. Valverde scored from a free-kick rebound, Güler scored one and made one, and Valencia managed four shots.
The numbers
| Real Madrid | Valencia CF | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 68% | 32% |
| Shots | 19 | 4 |
| xG | 2.26 | 0.16 |
| Touches in opp. box | 33 | 5 |
| Corners | 5 | 2 |
| Fouls | 6 | 26 |
Result the chances deserved: Real Madrid 86% / 12% / Valencia CF 2% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Courtois, Valverde, Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Tchouaméni, Güler, Bellingham, Diomande, Mbappé.
Valencia CF (3-5-2): Dimitrievski, Pepelu, Tárrega, De Haas, Maffeo, Javi Guerra, Guido Rodríguez, Mayol, Gayà, Sadiq, Danjuma.
Valencia subs: Luis Rioja (half-time, for De Haas), Blázquez (59', Sadiq), Ugrinic (63', Guido Rodríguez), Arnau Martínez (63', Maffeo), Jesús Vázquez (82', Javi Guerra). Valencia coach: Javier Aguirre. FotMob lists the back five as a 5-3-2 and has Blázquez on at 50' and Ugrinic at 59'.
Goals, subs and cards from LaLiga, Valencia CF and FotMob. Booked: Maffeo (26'), Guido Rodríguez (50'; FotMob 46'), Aguirre (59'), Rioja (80'), Diomande (80'), Pepelu (81'), Mbappé (81'), and Lunin on the bench (45+2'). Sent off: Gayà (79'), for pulling back Mbappé as he broke clear (Real Madrid). Corners and fouls from LaLiga. FotMob's player of the match: Güler (8.9). Attendance 47,914 (FotMob).
Key moments, move by move
- Mbappé's free-kick, given for a foul on him, hits the wall.
- The ball comes back out to Valverde at the edge of the box.
- He shoots low with his right foot, inside the left post.
- Bellingham gets to the byline.
- He pulls the ball back to the middle of the box.
- Güler hits it first time with his right foot into the top right corner.
- Güler controls the ball and plays Mbappé through.
- Mbappé's first touch takes him past Dimitrievski.
- His second puts it in from close range on the right.
Madrid kept the ball in Valencia's half and kept getting behind their back five
- The first XI is back: Konaté, Huijsen, Tchouaméni and Güler returned after being rested in Athens, and Valverde started at right-back (Real Madrid). It was the Racing XI with Valverde for Alexander-Arnold, in a 4-2-3-1 (FotMob).
- Valencia's back five: Aguirre lined up with five defenders and two up front (LaLiga, FotMob: 5-3-2). Madrid had 68% of the ball and 33 touches in Valencia's box to 5 (FotMob). Valencia had four shots for 0.16 xG, the fewest any opponent has made against Madrid this season; Courtois's save from Mayol at 19' was their best chance (Real Madrid).
- Güler between the lines: he scored from Bellingham's pull-back at 36', had shots saved at 43' and 54', and played Mbappé through for the third (Real Madrid, LaLiga). FotMob made him player of the match (8.9) and has him second in LaLiga for big chances created, with 14.
- Fouls and the red card: the opener came from a free-kick rebound after a foul on Mbappé (Valencia CF). Valencia made 26 fouls to Madrid's 6 (LaLiga) and had five players and their coach booked. Gayà was sent off at 79' for pulling Mbappé back as he broke clear (Real Madrid). Aguirre said that if the referee gave a foul for the first goal, "it was a red" (Valencia CF).
Tactical scenes
In the second half Valencia came out more, with Rioja on at half-time, and Madrid kept getting a runner in behind. Güler was one-on-one at 54' and Mbappé at 56'; Bellingham went past three players and was denied inside the box at 65'. All three were saved by Dimitrievski, and the third goal came the same way, from Güler's through ball (Real Madrid, LaLiga).
Evidence: Real Madrid's report lists three chances in the box saved by Dimitrievski between 54' and 65', two of them one-on-ones. FotMob gives Madrid 2.26 xG from 19 shots and rated Dimitrievski 7.7, Valencia's best. Real Madrid match report · LaLiga match centre · FotMob match page
Recreate it in FM26
Real Madrid · Breaking Valencia's back five with Güler inside · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Breaking Valencia's back five with Güler inside
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Courtois | Goalkeeper | Line-Holding Keeper |
| RB | Valverde | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Konaté | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Huijsen | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Cucurella | Wing-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RDM | Bernardo Silva | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Tchouaméni | Defensive Midfielder | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Güler | Wide Playmaker | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Bellingham | Attacking Midfielder | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Diomande | Winger | Tracking Winger |
| ST | Mbappé | Channel Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- PatienceWork Ball Into Box
- Creative FreedomMore Expressive
- Passing DirectnessShorter
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementMid Block
- Defensive LineHigher
- TacklingEase Off
The idea: A 4-2-3-1 where a Wide Playmaker drifts inside to receive between the lines and an Attacking Midfielder runs past the wing-back to the byline. It needs a No. 10 with the legs to reach the byline and a wide player who wants the ball to feet.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce a free-kick rebound, or 26 fouls and a red card from the opponent.
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: Formation 3-4-3, Endrick on at 65' (for Diomande), Alexander-Arnold on at 65' (for Valverde). Against a back five that made four shots, push the full-backs into wing-back roles and bring a fresh runner on earlier. Madrid win by the same margin or more, with less load on Valverde. It moves Real Madrid's win chance from 86% to 88% (xG 2.26–0.16 becomes 2.41–0.16). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Real Madrid needed
Vinícius Jr
Valencia's back five left room only at its edges. Vinícius running at Maffeo and then at Arnau Martínez gives Madrid a second player who can beat a wing-back and reach the byline, as Bellingham did for the 36' goal.
Erling Haaland
Madrid's problem in the second half was finishing: three chances in the box between 54' and 65' were saved. A striker who scores from close range, as Haaland did at Leipzig on Wednesday, turns some of those into goals.
What the analysts said
“This team is very united and very solid.”José Mourinho, post-match press conference (Real Madrid)
“I wouldn't say we played a great game and lost. That's not true. They were better and deserved the win.”Javier Aguirre, Valencia coach (Valencia CF, translated from Spanish)
“The two goals were avoidable and they upset our whole plan.”Javier Aguirre (Valencia CF, translated from Spanish)
“Real Madrid are a team that doesn't forgive you.”Javier Aguirre (Valencia CF, translated from Spanish)
“If he gave a foul for the first goal, it was a red. It has to be a red.”Javier Aguirre (Valencia CF, translated from Spanish)
Valencia sat deep, and Madrid still made the chances.
What's happening. Madrid won 3–0 at Mestalla: Valverde from a free-kick rebound, Güler, then Mbappé from Güler's pass. It is an eighth straight win in all competitions and puts Madrid level on points with Barcelona, who have a game in hand. Valencia had four shots all night.
How it works. A back five fills the width, so the space is in front of it and on its edges. Madrid used both. Güler took the ball between Valencia's midfield and defence, and Bellingham ran outside a wing-back to the byline for the second goal. Against a deep line, the best chance often comes from the pull-back, not the cross. The cost of so many bodies forward is the counter, but Valencia hardly had the ball to try one.
What the shots say. FotMob gives Madrid more than two goals' worth of chances and Valencia almost none, the fewest Madrid have allowed this season. One reading: this is the answer to the question left by Camp Nou and Racing, because a side sat deep and still lost the chances battle badly. The other: Valencia are in the bottom three, the opener was a rebound and Dimitrievski kept the score down.