Real Madrid: 3 keys to victory against Villarreal on LaLiga’s Matchday 7

2. Real Madrid must lead more attacks from the flanks

Villarreal’s visible strength is their central defense with club legends and newer stars flooding the available options for Unai Emery. Players like Raul Albiol, Pau Torres, and Aissa Mandi have been exceptional defensively, one major blunder aside that led to an own-goal and resultantly a draw against champions Atletico Madrid in a game where otherwise the Yellow Submarine were heading towards a victory.

Therefore, a better game plan would be to target the wider spaces. Players like Pervis Estupinan, Alfonso Pedraza, and Mario Gasper have been seen struggling in the fullback roles and haven’t had the brightest of starts to the season. Contrastingly for Real Madrid, their wingers have been in top form, especially Vinicius Junior who has been causing all sorts of problems for opponents.

He had another brilliant game against Mallorca where he ended up with an assist to show for a direct goal-contribution. But, apart from it, he had a brilliant game with three tackles, two long balls, and many more completed dribbles, per SofaScore. The young Brazilian is on fire and would be expected to be one of Real’s main assets moving into a top-tier clash in the league.

The full-back situation was rectified as expected with Nacho moving to the right-back position which opens gates for Miguel Gutierrez to come back to the first team and do what he does best. He had few brilliant crosses in the game against Mallorca and would fit in brilliantly in the game plan of exploiting wider spaces when on the offense. Either Eden Hazard or Rodrygo Goes would further help the play on the flanks and Real Madrid should find their way through the stubborn defense of the Europa League champions.