Almeria vs. Real Madrid: Tactical Review of La Liga Game

Real Madrid continued their incredible winning streak on Friday evening, beating Almeria 4-1 at the Juegos Mediterraneos. Cristiano Ronaldo's late brace iced a close encounter, while the best goal of the game was scored by Almeria's Verza.

Let's take a tactical look at how this one played out.

Formations and XIs

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Almeria played a 4-2-3-1, with Tomer Hemed as a target up front. Sebastian Dubarbier and Michel, playing left-wing and right-back respectively, were heavily involved throughout.

Real Madrid played 4-4-2 with Isco on the left wing, Gareth Bale on the right wing and Cristiano Ronaldo up front. Raphael Varane and Asier Illarramendi came into the XI once again in the absence of Sergio Ramos (suspension) and Luka Modric (injury).

Almeria's Pressing

Almeria were yet to record a home victory for the season entering this match, but you'd never have guessed it given their positive, fearless start.

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The Rojiblancos pressed high and pushed up the pitch from the off, committing the full-backs forward, holding a high line near halfway. The holding midfielders—nominally Thomas and Verzo at this stage—were able to step up and contest 50-50 balls without worrying about covering their centre-backs.

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It left Real Madrid locked in their own third for the opening 10 minutes, but they were rarely troubled in front of goal. Almeria committed lots of resources forward, but Hemed was unable to work Iker Casillas with headers or find his team-mates just outside the box often enough.

Madrid's Growth

Madrid looked shell-shocked initially but eventually worked out how to exploit Almeria's aggressive stance. Ronaldo and Bale posed a consistent threat over the top against the high line, and the moment the pressure relented for an instant, Toni Kroos and Co. began finding a second to play a measured ball in behind.

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Bale and Ronaldo both got in behind twice each inside a five-minute spell, and the familiar hit-the-byline-and-cross-to-the-back-post rhythm began to settle into los Blancos' attacking game. Bale's end-product was rough initially, though, and Karim Benzema was outnumbered in the box.

The breakthrough came via a moment of brilliance from Isco, who collected a long cross at the back post, cut inside and curled a delicious effort inside the far post. Almeria equalised with a true golazo, then Bale headed home from a Kroos cross before the half.

Familiar Pattern

The game settled into a more regular pattern in the second half, with Real Madrid dominating the ball and Almeria constructing counter-attacks, not sustained periods in control.

Los Blancos levelled out possession and eventually started piling up the numbers, gathering 58 percent, per WhoScored.com, and fashioning as many chances.

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Almeria pressed high throughout rather than fading and dropping, and that allowed Madrid to pick them off late on the counter-attack. Both of the away side's late goals, scored by Ronaldo, were cut-back tap-ins after great runs into space.