Real Madrid: 3 keys to victory against Sheriff on Champions League Matchday 2

2. Real Madrid’s aerial defense must be top-notch

FC Sheriff has a visible affinity towards crossing the ball into the box and scoring aerial goals. In the first Matchday, they scored via a thumping header and a volleyed finish. Their game in the air is undoubtedly solid and Real Madrid must take note of it. Real Madrid has the required resources to tackle the aerial threat though, ‘Air’ Militao being the best among them all.

The thing to be considered here is that the Moldovans only had 25% possession against Shakhtar and yet managed to have 11 attempts on goal compared to Shakhtar’s 20 with 75% of possession, per SofaScore. They are a side that transitions quickly and breaks dangerously on counters. They tend to open up play wide on the flanks and send crosses in, these are all pointers for Don Carlo to prepare his defense. They need to pay the deserved respect to the opposition and put up a little stronger play on the flanks and stop those incoming balls in the box.

They are, therefore, a side that creates chances that count. However, this is going to be a different game for the debutant side, as they’ll be facing the most successful club of the competition. In the last game, though Real Madrid struggled, they did show signs of the central defense partnership between Eder Militao and David Alaba finally settling. They both need to at their best to break up the Moldovans’ attacks and recover the ball to play in out from the back as Los Blancos have done so well so far.