Cristiano Ronaldo Excels Up Front for Real Madrid in Victory over Levante

Real Madrid destroyed Levante 5-0 on Saturday, with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a brace and James Rodriguez netting his first goal in close to a month.

Carlo Ancelotti experimented with a new-look system and shape when the opportunity arose, so let's take a look at what he did and see if it stands a long-term option.

Formations and XIs

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Levante played a deep 4-2-3-1 (4-4-1-1) formation, with Victor Casadesus playing a lonely role up front. Victor Camarasa and Pape Diop held the midfield together—or tried to.

Real Madrid played a hybrid 4-3-3/4-4-2, allowing Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale (who was practically assaulted on international duty) a rest. Javier Hernandez, Isco, James and Nacho started, while Ronaldo played up front.

Real Madrid's "Formation"

Formations are designed to be fluid, so for Los Blancos to enter the Levante game with a free-flowing, interchanging system should not have been a surprise. With the hosts no match for the visitors on paper, Carlo Ancelotti was able to play a very loose strategy predicated on overwhelming quality rather than tactical stability.

It started as a 4-3-3—with Ronaldo left, Hernandez central and James Rodriguez right—but even then was lopsided in the extreme. Ronaldo then starting playing alongside Hernandez, making Isco nominally the "left-winger," and later James switched over to the left.

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This is all in the absence of Bale, who took a well-deserved rest, which shows Ancelotti has options on any given day: No Sami Khedira, Benzema or Bale, and still a 5-0 win.

Ronaldo: A Future Striker?

Key to the fluidity of the system was Ronaldo. It was interesting to see him given free reign up front alongside Hernandez on the back of his more central role for Portugal during the international break.

CR7 has long locked down the left-wing berth in Real Madrid's formation, but he'll turn 30 early next year, and some would argue his dominance can last only as long as his body does coming in off the flank.

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Playing up front is a surefire way to extend his career around five years at the very top, and after playing there for Fernando Santos' Seleccao against Denmark he gave it a go here, too. He was seen stretching the pitch vertically with trademark runs, dipping in between the lines to receive the ball and even switching over to right-centre-forward, straying away from his usual left-sided preference.

All told, he was excellent on Saturday, netting two goals and tormenting Levante's defensive players.

Balls into the Box

Usually, 5-0 wins are as close as it gets to perfect games. After all, you've kept a clean sheet and scored five goals, and in this case away from home.

But a serious, recurring problem reared its head yet again on Saturday: Real Madrid are still struggling to defend balls into the box. It's an issue we highlighted back in September, noting five goals conceded in this fashion over the span of five games.

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Against Levante it was a similar story: The home side never threatened unless they were slamming balls in from wide areas. Pepe, chief aggressor, should be doing better, and you can't blame it on Nacho because Sergio Ramos struggles too.

Is it a coaching issue?

Quick-fire Conclusions

• Expect Bale to come back in against Liverpool, but beyond that clues ahead of the tie are hard to come by.
• Despite the clean sheet, Iker Casillas looked a little rattled. He's suffering still.
• Asier Illarramendi appears officially demoted to world football's version of a safety car, coming on only to protect 3-0 scorelines.
• As good as Madrid were, Levante were equal parts abysmal. They failed to close the space between the lines and therefore allowed Ronaldo to dictate.

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