Bold Move by Real Madrid Strikes Weak Spot in Hunt City Legends Clash!
MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 12: Fede Valverde and Thibaut Courtois, players of Real Madrid in action during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Round of 16 second leg match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid C. F. at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano on March 12, 2025 in Madrid, Spain.
(Photo by Maria Jimenez/Real Madrid via Getty Images) | Real Madrid via Getty Images Real Madrid’s heavy win over Manchester City at the Bernabeu did not come without preparation. According to reporting from David Álvarez of El País , Arbeloa had quietly spent days preparing a tactical surprise designed to exploit Pep Guardiola’s aggressive pressing. Before the match, Arbeloa admitted he expected Guardiola to introduce something unexpected.
“He always has a surprise prepared. No matter how much you study his teams, when a match like this comes you know he has something different ready,” Arbeloa had said pre-game. Instead, Arbeloa delivered the surprise.
From the opening minutes, Thibaut Courtois repeatedly targeted the right flank with long goal kicks toward Federico Valverde. The pattern was deliberate. Madrid had trained the sequence extensively at Valdebebas, expecting City to press man-to-man and leave space behind the defensive line.
“We had trained it quite a lot, especially when playing out from goal,” Valverde explained. “They were going to press man-to-man and we knew there would be space behind. ” Courtois confirmed the same idea.