This was always going to be a summer of change for Real Madrid.
First, the 14-time European champions lost their second all-time top scorer in Karim Benzema, who made a shock move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad. Then they signed one of the world’s most talented young midfielders in Jude Bellingham — along with Fran Garcia, Arda Guler, Joselu and, after Thibaut Courtois’ anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
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Losing Benzema and signing Bellingham led to head coach Carlo Ancelotti trying out a new system in pre-season — a 4-4-2 diamond formation designed to get the best out of the England international and make up for the lack of a star striker. It produced mixed results on their tour of the United States but has earned them two wins out of two in La Liga against Athletic Bilbao and Almeria.
So why did Madrid decide to change their formation? Who does it benefit the most and what are its potential drawbacks? The Athletic has taken a look at the small number of games played with the system to find out.
In his two spells as coach of Real, Ancelotti has almost religiously stuck to a 4-3-3 system. It was the formation used when Madrid won ‘La Decima’ — their previously elusive 10th European Cup/Champions League title — in 2014 and when they won the same competition in 2022. It was also their most common system last season, featuring in 52 games across all competitions.
The departure of Benzema — who has yet to be properly replaced — and Bellingham’s arrival presented Madrid with a dilemma. They no longer had a focal point in attack and had added a midfielder to a squad already packed full of them.
According to coaching staff sources — who asked to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to discuss such matters — one of the main reasons for changing the system was to make the most of the eight midfielders at Ancelotti’s disposal (Bellingham, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and Guler).
The below pass network graphic, from Madrid’s opening La Liga match against Athletic, shows how the formation looks in practice. Bellingham plays at the tip of the diamond as a No 10 behind the attacking duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, with Camavinga (or Kroos) and Valverde playing ahead of Tchouameni as the sole holding midfielder.
“We play more attractive football, which people will like because the team plays with a slightly more advanced line, presses higher, wants to control the ball and plays with fast transitions,” one coaching staff source told The Athletic.
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Bellingham’s fine start to life in the Spanish capital is partly thanks to the new formation. The 20-year-old scored on his debut at Athletic’s San Mames and netted a brace against Almeria. His second in that game was the kind of header you would have expected Benzema to score in his 14 years at Madrid. That fit with what Ancelotti told Radio Serie A in an interview this week when he was asked if he had given any thought to signing Napoli striker Victor Osimhen: “No because I believe the club thought it could get over Benzema’s absence by signing Bellingham.”
Two goals from Jude Bellingham, who also provided an assist for Vinicius Junior, look to have set Real Madrid on course for victory against Almeria.
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Bellingham played just five per cent of his total league minutes as a central attacking midfielder for Borussia Dortmund, as the below graphic shows, but that position does not quite capture his role at Madrid so far, where he has flitted between midfield and attack.
In this example against Athletic, Bellingham goes on an impressive run. He beats two of the home side’s players in his own half…
… then does the same again when he passes the halfway line, before moving infield and running into the space that would usually be occupied by a striker.
He exchanges passes with Vinicius Jr before bursting into the box, where he tries to play in Rodrygo for an easy finish. Athletic’s Mikel Vesga clears and Bellingham is flagged offside, but it is an enterprising piece of attacking play from the young midfielder.
Bellingham’s off-the-ball runs are also crucial to the way Madrid play. One such run against Athletic facilitated the opening goal from Rodrygo.
Bellingham is in an attacking position when Valverde plays the initial pass to Rodrygo, with Vinicius Jr to the Englishman’s left and Dani Carvajal to his right after pushing up from defence.
As Rodrygo embarks on a dribble, Bellingham moves back into midfield, creating space for his Brazilian team-mate to move into.
Rodrygo breaks into the area vacated by Bellingham after passing to Carvajal, before receiving the return ball from the right-back and smashing home past Unai Simon.
Bellingham is not the only midfielder to have benefitted from the change in formation. The France international pair of Camavinga and Tchouameni have not always had the easiest of times since they arrived at the Bernabeu in 2021 and 2022, but this system seems to suit them both perfectly.
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Camavinga struggled to find his favoured position in his first two seasons at Madrid. The versatile 20-year-old was one of Real’s best performers last campaign but was forced to fill in at left-back given Ferland Mendy’s recurring injury problems. He was less convincing in a lone defensive midfielder role, with errors in possession sometimes leaving Real’s defence exposed.
Tchouameni also failed to fully establish himself at the heart of Madrid’s midfield last season after Casemiro left for Manchester United, but having him behind Camavinga at the base of midfield gives both players more defensive protection and has led to a more solid centre of the pitch for Madrid — good news for club president Florentino Perez, who does not want the 37-year-old Modric and Kroos, 33, to be permanent starters this season (Modric has yet to start a game this campaign while Kroos played in the Camavinga role against Almeria as the Frenchman was injured).
In this example against Athletic, Carvajal plays a throw-in just ahead of Camavinga. But his touch is poor and he is closed down by Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta.
Ruiz de Galarreta runs forward but is faced with Tchouameni, while Bellingham also tracks back to cut off the Athletic Bilbao player’s options.
That allows Camavinga to dash back and put in a good recovery tackle, setting Bellingham away for the counter-attack.
However, there are downsides to the diamond formation. One coaching staff source pointed out that the system “seems to require a lot of physical effort from the players, especially the full-backs”, which they highlighted as a potential negative. Madrid’s full-backs are required to do more work in patrolling the wings, which can lead to opponents finding space down the flanks.
Defence seemed to be a problem in pre-season, with Real conceding eight goals in their four U.S. games. While they have only let in one goal in their two La Liga matches this season — a third-minute effort from Almeria’s Sergio Arribas, a Madrid academy product signed this summer — the way that happened suggests players still have work to do on their new roles.
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Here, after an overhit Kroos free kick, Almeria launch a quick counter-attack through Largie Ramazani. Valverde and Carvajal are tracking back but the latter is caught upfield after the free kick. He offloads to Lucas Robertone with Real’s defence in disarray and left-back Garcia is forced to come across to help Valverde.
With Garcia out of position, Arribas has plenty of space ahead of him to get on the end of Robertone’s cross. David Alaba is marking Adri Embarba and Kroos is too slow to react, with Arribas heading past keeper Andriy Lunin.
One player also getting used to his new role is Vinicius Jr. The below graphic shows how central the Brazilian has been this season, with 7.3 fewer touches per game in the left-wing area he would usually target.
“He is adapting very well,” Ancelotti said of Vinicius Jr’s new role before Madrid’s game against Celta Vigo on Friday. “He has the intelligence to put himself where he is best in attack.
“On the inside, it’s easier to get chances. The example is (former AC Milan striker) Filippo Inzaghi. He doesn’t have the same characteristics, but he’s an example.”
Nobody is saying Vinicius Jr will be the next Inzaghi, but he might become even more prolific from central positions. No other Madrid player made as many touches in the opposition box (20) or progressive carries (26) as the forward in the first two La Liga games of the season, suggesting he is as dangerous as ever in attack.
Against Almeria, he scored a goal that you might not usually associate with him — a finessed finish near the centre of the area with just the right amount of backlift to beat goalkeeper Luis Maximiano.
There was a similar chance for Vinicius Jr in Madrid’s pre-season friendly against Juventus. Camavinga burst into the penalty area and offloaded to the Brazilian, who tried to curl a shot into the bottom right-hand corner. That time, he failed to generate enough power to beat Wojciech Szczesny’s dive, but it was another example of the central role Vinicius Jr has been asked to play this season.
It is still very early days, but the signs are good for Madrid. They are averaging 19.5 total shots, 8.5 shots on target and 36 touches in the opposition box — all up on their numbers from last season (although this is an extremely small sample size).
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If they can iron out their early teething issues with the system, then diamonds really might be forever for Ancelotti and his coaching staff.
Additional reporting: Mario Cortegana
(Top photo: Francis Gonzalez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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