It’s the same old movie you’ve seen before.
Real Madrid being second in a Champions League knockout match for most of the match, their opponent misses chances, Thibaut Courtois saves, Madrid scores and it’s “Asi, asi, asi, gana El Madrid» — ‘Like that, like that, Madrid wins like that’.
While this film was running with Carlo Ancelotti winning his fifth Champions League trophy as manager and Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Nacho and Dani Carvajal winning six titles, there was another film running in the background featuring the Spanish right-back.
After getting through the first half without conceding, Ancelotti’s half-time adjustments improved Madrid’s defense, but it was Carvajal’s header from a corner that changed the momentum of the match before the pass Ian Maatsen’s botched goal gave Madrid their second goal.
At 173cm tall, Carvajal is one of Real Madrid’s shortest players and, at first glance, an unlikely scorer of a vital headed goal. But this crucial moment, 17 minutes from time, had been a long time coming and owed its success to a series of strategies.
That’s how it all came together.
Looking back, Carvajal’s near-post runs on the corners were very much in evidence among Madrid’s outside and inside swingers. Facing Borussia Dortmund’s defensive approach of six markers and four (yellow) zone defenders – only two of whom were in position to defend the center – Carvajal’s intelligence and well-timed runs towards the near post stood out. have been shown to be effective.
On Madrid’s first corner, the right-back is not part of the attacking squad inside the area and positions himself at the edge of the area to defend against the counter-attack. Meanwhile, Federico Valverde is positioned towards the far post and marked by Maatsen.
But when Kroos begins his drive to take the corner, Carvajal makes a late run into the penalty area, while Valverde drops to do the initial work of the right back, confusing Maatsen who is unsure whether to follow the Uruguayan midfielder. or maintain his position.
Kroos aims for the first post, occupied by most of the Madrid players, and where Carvajal makes his run unnoticed. The only player moving away from this area is Jude Bellingham, who looks to attack the far post.
Despite the corner coming to nothing after a header from Julian Brandt, Carvajal is free and in a threatening position towards the near post. At the other post, Bellingham is in a one-on-one situation and awaiting a kickoff.
Thanks to Dortmund’s defensive organization, manipulating one of the markers or hitting him with the ball gives a considerable advantage to the Madrid player, as only two zonal players defend the center, Mats Hummels and Niclas Fullkrug.
Another example, the six Dortmund scorers are close to their Madrid counterparts…
…and when Kroos crosses the ball, Carvajal beats Maatsen at the near post…
…which puts him in a threatening position, as the only Dortmund player in this area is Brandt who is fully focused on marking Eduardo Camavinga. Kroos’ attacker, however, is too heavy and falls perfectly in front of Hummels who clears him.
On the swingers’ side, Dortmund maintained its defensive configuration with six markers and four zone defenders (yellows).
As for the Madrilenians, they tried to win their individual duels towards the near post, while Bellingham attacked at the far post.
The idea was to put the England midfielder in a one-on-one situation while the other Madrid players overloaded the near post. The dilemma for Dortmund was that they either had to use one of their best headers (Emre Can) to mark Bellingham, creating a disadvantage towards the near post where Madrid were trying to create an overload, or put their best headers there, which meant leaving Bellingham in a potentially advantageous head-to-head.
In this example, Antonio Rudiger starts at the far post with Carvajal and Bellingham in front of the six-yard box.
As Kroos prepares to take the corner, Rudiger heads towards the near post and Carvajal uses his hand to move away from Maatsen…
…which gives him a head start when running at center attack.
The separation Carvajal creates allows him a free run on the ball, and the distance he runs (black arrow) gives him momentum that helps him jump higher than a jump from a standing position. Carvajal connects with the cross, but his header just misses the target.
In the duel against Maatsen, Carvajal had the left-back number.
In another corner, he fakes a move towards the back post – notice how his weight is on his right leg – before quickly leaping up to run towards the nearest post…
…thus separating from Maatsen.
Eventually, it all led to Madrid’s first game.
Here they only have five players attacking the penalty area as Vinicius Junior is next to Kroos as a short option. His marker, Marcel Sabitzer, changes roles with Jadon Sancho and both position themselves at the end of the penalty area. This leaves Dortmund with the same setup when defending the center: five man markers, and Fullkrug and Hummels zone-defend the six-yard box.
As Kroos prepares to take the corner, Carvajal puts his right arm between him and Maatsen to create separation…
…then uses his right hand to distance himself from the Dortmund left-back, allowing him to play freely with the ball.
Rudiger leaving the backcourt for the Bellingham run gives Ancelotti’s side a dual threat at the far post and near post, with the England midfielder able to attack every move.
But it is Carvajal’s movement to the near post which proves effective on this corner. Again, the right-back’s mini-run gives him momentum which allows him to jump higher than everyone else in the penalty area, before heading the ball into the far corner to give the advantage to Madrid.
“It’s not just about height,” Carvajal said, after winning his sixth Champions League title. “You have to be there, jump for the ball and show determination. Sometimes the smaller players can also score with headers.
Height is an advantage on set pieces, but knowing how to free yourself from your marker is an essential tool for attacking corners. Additionally, Madrid’s corner put Dortmund in a situation where Can was wide of the near post, where Kroos was targeting his crosses.
Carvajal’s runs to the near post from corners were a recurring scene throughout the match. It was a perfect ending to the two films which ended with Madrid becoming European champions for the 15th time.
(Top image: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)