Three takeaways from Real Madrid’s 1-0 win vs. Rayo Vallecano
Set pieces
Since this was such a boring game and I am now scrapping the bottom of the barrel for one last takeaway, I will address a popular talking point from Twitter.
Following the 1-0 defeat to Alavés, earlier in the season, I wrote an article on why I felt Real Madrid were struggling. One of the points I brought up was how wasteful Los Blancos had been from set pieces.
It is now common knowledge that Real Madrid won the 2016/17 league title due to their comebacks, depth, and corners.
Zidane’s side scored 11 goals off an 8.38 Xg from corners and produced 0.10 Xg per shot from them. Indirect free kicks or set pieces as Understat calls them, Real Madrid scored nine goals from a 6.58 Xg and produced 0.19 Xg per shot.
dark. Next. Real Madrid ties unsavory 25-year-old record in the win over Rayo Vallecano
Last season, those numbers were just as good, scoring 14 goals from corners off a 10.03 Xg and once again coming away with 0.10 Xg per shot from a corner. Set pieces took a dip with Madrid only scoring two, underperforming their Xg quite narrowly, however, did manage 0.13 Xg per shot from a set piece.
This season, Real Madrid is yet to score from a corner or set piece in La Liga. Their Xg from corners is a tragic 2.75, though their Xg per shot has dropped only slight from the previous two seasons, currently sitting at 0.09.
Set pieces are much the same story, managing a measly 1.33 Xg from set pieces so far this season and producing an Xg of 0.10 per shot. As I said then and as I will say now, for a team that is struggling to find the back of the net consistently, not fully exploiting this team’s prowess from the dead ball is inexplicable, however, at this late stage of the season, it is unlikely to change.