Liverpool’s hopes of winning the treble must be dashed in the hands of Real Madrid. A 1-0 defeat must be accepted by Liverpool in the 2021/22 Champions League final at the Stade de France, Sunday. Madrid also established themselves as the club that won the most Champions League titles through Vinicius Junior’s goals. Because the only goal was in the 59th minute, it lasted until the long whistle sounded.
Appearing to attack and continue to surround the Madrid defense, Liverpool were unable to catch up. A total of 24 attempted kicks were released by Liverpool, compared to Madrid which only kicked off four times. Understanding Liverpool’s attack pattern
Liverpool’s midfield looks busy in this match. Almost all of Liverpool’s attacks are concentrated in the middle area. Fabinho also seemed to be the center of Liverpool’s attack by touching the ball 95 times. Fabinho is also the one who passes the ball to his team-mates more often than his compatriots in midfield, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara.
In total Fabinho made 86 successful passes, most of which were given to the wing area. Especially to the two Liverpool full-backs who often go up to build attacks, namely Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson. From these two players, the ball was passed more often to Mohamed Salah on the right side of the Madrid defense. Salah is expected to be the final judgment for Liverpool. In total, he fired nine attempts. That number is more than Sadio Mane who is placed as a center forward. He was only able to release three attempted shots. It’s natural because Mane often drops into the middle area in this match.
Madrid tend to be strong in possession of the ball in their own area. Through the feet of Toni Kroos and Casemiro, Madrid managed to control the ball in their own territory, even in the defensive area. Kroos and Casemiro even had to go down to the front of the penalty area in their own defense to maintain their team’s possession. From the statistics above, it is clear that Kroos and Casemiro are static and tend to maintain the midfield transition and defend Real Madrid. Modric moves dynamically from the middle to the front as a liaison between the attacks from the midfield to the attack line.
The decline of the two midfielders to build attacks was further helped by the action of Eder Militao. Because he is able to help flow the ball to Casemiro and Kroos to build attacks from behind. In total, Eder touched the ball 56 times and passed the ball 61 times to his team-mates. Meanwhile, Luca Modric plays a role in connecting the ball from the middle to the final third of the opponent’s defense. Especially flowing the ball to the right wing of Madrid’s attack where Federico Valverde is often there. Meanwhile, Dani Carvajal rarely gets to the final third of Liverpool’s defense.
Seeing the gap in Liverpool’s defense that was too high, from the feet of Kroos and Modric, Madrid relied on direct passes to the flanks that were inhabited by Vinicius Junior and Valverde. The wings that are always left by each of his full-backs, are often a gap for Madrid’s attacks. Both Alexander-Arnold and Robertson were very aggressive in assisting the attack in this match. Of the two players, Alexander-Arnold most often leaves a void. That space is also often visited by Karim Benzema who is slightly wide to the left. This side is also the only Madrid goal scored by Vinicious. Starting from the wing then to the other wing, namely from right to left.
Starting from Valverde who moved on the right side, then sent a pull bait to the left side. It was there that Vinicius finished Valverde’s pass into a goal. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s defense focused on Benzema’s movement, where Vinicious moved freely running from the left side into the penalty box.
Madrid’s composure in maintaining the tempo since in their own defense was the key to their victory. Despite being pounded with barrage of attacks, Madrid still appeared stable and patient in maintaining the depth of their defense. Regarding the depth of defense, Casemiro plays an important role in lightening the burden on Madrid’s defenders.
Meanwhile, when building an attack, Madrid is very good at keeping the tempo for the existence of Kroos and Modric. They know when to hold the ball and when to pass long passes when they see gaps in Liverpool territory. In the end, Vinicous’s goal was the finish for all four of Madrid’s attempts.
ASL
