Many teams begin the match with a long ball and then try to press the opposition deep in their own half. Real Madrid recently played an interesting variation of this and were almost successful against Juventus in the friendly match on July 31st.
(Figure 1.1)
The front three and Modric run forward immediately after kick off which forces Juventus players to drop in anticipation of the long ball.
(Figure 1.2)
The front three continue their run forward while Modric stops and turns back into the spaces created.
(Figure 1.3)
Since Juventus players see that Modric has stopped, they now move forward and shift with the ball and Modric now as the new orientation points. This is however too late and Modric is able to lay the ball off before Juventus players are able to put pressure on him.
(Figure 1.4)
Valverde is not able to stay on, and despite his well executed cross and Benzemas clinical finish, the goal does not count.
We can see this much more clearly when we look at the theory and overall structures of the two teams.
(Figure 2.1)
Both teams line up in a 433 with Real Madrid wingers slightly wide so that they can run directly into the Juventus half and stretch the defence.
(Figure 2.2)
The ball is played backwards, but Real Madrid players make their way up the pitch to get on the receiving end of the long ball.
(Figure 2.3)
This movement forces Juventus players to drop in anticipation of the pass, which creates spaces in between the FW and MF lines.
(Figure 2.4)
Modric against the run of play and moves into these spaces created. He has the advantage in this situation because the Juventus players are already moving backwards away from the ball.
(Figure 2.5)
Despite Juventus players reacting to this, it is enough time and space for Modric to lay the ball off onto Kroos, who has in the meantime moved into the spaces beside Modric.
(Figure 2.6)
Now that Real Madrid have played the ball backwards, Juventus players start moving forwards to put pressure on the ball. This creates spaces in behind the back 4 as they begin to push up and Madrid players have more space to run into.
(Figure 2.7)
Although Valverde was caught off-side, this movement is something that we can all take home namely, that we want to play the ball in the opposition direction to where we want the ball to end up, first. This way we can create spaces and this will be effective especially if you talk these strategies through with your teammates beforehand.
(Figure 2.8)
Madrid in this case could have even stayed on-side if Valverde continued his run inside towards goal and allowed Carvajal to get on the end of the long ball from Kroos as we can see in Figure 2.8.
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