Lille tests Real Madrid with intense, touch-based and (almost) intractable football in their stadium

Ajust like what happened against Stuttgarthe Real Madrid will add to its extensive history a new rival: Lille. The whites have never faced the French team, whom Spanish teams are not very good at itsince they have only won one of their last nine games in the main European competitions, although the most recent is the victory against Sevilla three seasons ago.

On the contrary, Lille will sell their skin dearly in front of their fans. At the Decathlon Arena, not everyone wins. The French team have won seven of their last eight European games at home and it is undefeated in their stadium since Chelsea won in the round of 16 of the Champions League 2022. In this period they have added eight wins and three draws.

This season is having a hard time getting off the ground.. In six days he has 10 points and is fifth. In addition, the Champions League began by losing against Sporting de Portugal. He has lost his best center back, Leny Yoro, who left for Manchester Unitedand he is making up for it by generally placing three, with Diakité, Alexandro Ribeiro and the former Betis and Villarreal player, Aisa takes a shower.

‘Les Dogues’ replaced the coach, Paulo Fonseca, who left for Milan, with Bruno Génésiowhich arrived this season with the idea to give it a new boost to a team that finished fourth last season. His daring football proposal is having a hard time finding the desired prize, even having a recognizable eleven. According to data from Coach Inside, a coach analysis platform, Only 20% of the time has he repeated the team and 40% are changing the tactical order from one game to another.

Until now has tried various formations which then vary as the game develops. From 5-4-1 to 3-4-3 passing through 4-4-2 that can be converted into a 4-2-3-1.

Despite everything, he has a very clear idea of ​​what he wants in terms of style. The Frenchman defends a offensive, possession-oriented football and that should be able to be enjoyed through many combinations.

Intensity above all

Its main value It occurs without the ball. Its objective is to make the field as small as possible both vertically and laterally and it is standing out for being one of the most intense teams in the five major leagues. Allows just over nine passes to the opponent before taking a defensive actionwhich places them in the twelfth team that takes the least time to try to recover the ball.

Your idea is try to regain possession as high as possibleas he shows that he has the second highest percentage of high defensive actions (59.5%)only behind Brighton. But not only the quantity is striking, but also its efficiency, since it is positioned as the seventh club that makes the most recoveries less than 40 meters from the rival goal (8 every 90 minutes). If we extend it to the entire opposing field, only three clubs recover more balls.

In the following graph we can see this. The points represent each of the 96 major league teams, ranked by the number of actions they take in each of the selected metrics. The further to the right, the more they perform that certain action. The color also helps to divide them between those who execute the most (green) and those who perform the least (red).

In any case, if in a situation you have to defend further back, the tactics change, since the pressure becomes focused on the ball and establishes a compact and closed structure. They have solutions.

Taste for touch

With the ball, tries to open the game on the wings and gain superiority through overloads, one-on-one situations and by bringing his players into the spaces between and behind the opposing defenses. He likes to have it and that’s how he exercises it in France. Only PSG has a higher percentage of possession and, in Europe, is eighth in the Big 5. It is not a very vertical team. Macerates possessions. Gives an average of 5.24 passes for each of them (14th) and He does not abuse the long pass (he gives one every 15.4 passes17th longest to do so). That’s why The average distance of his passes is one of the shortest.

He tries to give meaning and, above all, danger, to his possessions. We talk about third team with highest field inclinationthat is, that they have more possession in the final third compared to their rivals. Only City and Bayern surpass it. Bigger words. On average, he has an attack rate of 73% in that area of ​​the field.

Players to watch

When thinking about Lille, the first one that comes to mind is Jonathan Davidwhich we have already talked about in the past. It’s your reference above. Last season only Mbappé scored more than him in Ligue 1. He scored 19 goals (2 from penalties) in 14 games and 26 in all competitions (18 games).

This course takes sevenalthough two were in the previous phase of the Champions League. In Ligue 1 he has made the other five (one was from eleven meters) with just 10 shots. It comes from doing a ‘hat-trick’ in Le Havre.

Another interesting player is Edon Zhegrova. We have also talked about him previously, highlighting his haggling abilityand for create danger. Right winger and second top scorer, although it is not his facet. They have not had a ball stolen so far this season in Ligue 1.

In the following graph we can see a little better what he is currently excelling at, compared to the wingers in the big leagues. The greener and longer the line, the better. Value refers to the number of times you perform an action per 90 minutes of play. On the far right is the position it occupies among all those in its position in each of the statistics and, in parentheses, the percentile in which it is located. For example, Zhegrova has had the ball taken away between both competitions 0.19 times every 90 minutes, a ridiculous amount. And he ranks first among the 295 Big 5 wingers, so he’s in the 100th percentile (he’s above 100% of players in this metric).

has a great skill in duels. According to Smarterscout data, which determines from 0 to 99 the value of his duels in attack (dribbles) and defense (tackles) adjusted to the quality of the rivals he has faced and compared with the players in his position, The 25-year-old Bosnian is among the best face-offs in the world.

The third name that we want to highlight is Benjamin Andrew. We talk about his lighthouse in the midfield. Highly deployed player, covers a wide area of ​​the field.

Has very easy to progress the ball through passes or drives (19 per 90 minutes, 18th in the major leagues). Defensively goes to the crash successfully (4 entries every 90 minutes, 6th). He uses aerial balls a lot and quite efficiently.

But one fact that draws a lot of attention and that speaks of his weight in the creative work of his team is that He has participated in all the possessions that have ended in a goal in Ligue 1 this season.

PSG as an example

With this analysis we can see that Lille will not make it easy for Madrid, although the whites have enough potential to get the three points from the Decathlon Arena. This season, PSG, a team of the level and style of the Whites, has already been measured in their stadium, with the Parisians winning 1-3, in a match where their ability to control and press was diminished, which could lead to an idea of ​​how he might behave in front of white people.