There were a number of problems with this Real Madrid side, despite the fact that they beat Roma 4-3 in historically chaotic fashion. Yes, they made a comeback, and yes, their substitutions were really, really good. Yes, those players were brilliant individually, which was why they won in the first place, but it is worth noting that the game plan before the substitutions were made was absolutely terrible.
Real Madrid looked as uncomfortable as they have been under Jose Mourinho because of the way they were playing against a high-pressing team like Roma. Roma were completely playing them out of the park in every single aspect of the match until the substitutions happened, and Roma became nervous for the last few minutes of the game. Before that, though, they had an answer to everything.
Real Madrid's build-up strategy was literally long-range passes from Thibaut Courtois into the open space for players to reach. This cannot be your strategy against the best teams in the world, or against any team in the world when you are supposed to be the best of the best.
Real Madrid played terrible football for a team that has profiles like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Arda Guler
Courtois was left absolutely helpless because the midfield that Real Madrid started with was not giving him any options. They were not tracking back to support the defence when they were under a lot of pressure defensively.
What's worse is that Real Madrid had some brilliant ball progressors on the bench, and they chose not to start any of them: players like Bernardo Silva or Guler in midfield, and Trent Alexander-Arnold at the right-back position. There were so many players that Mourinho could have gone for, to be able to help evade the press and progress the ball more efficiently, rather than dumping all of it on Courtois. There was no need for that.
Courtois was struggling clearly, as he only completed three of his long balls on more than 10 attempts. Having these ball progressors on the bench would have helped not just the goalkeeper but the rest of the team. They would finally have someone who can play through the pressure that Roma were putting them under.
Even Thiago Pitarch, who is a relatively young midfielder, is much better under pressure than any of these players. He always makes himself available to his teammates so that they can pass the ball to him. He always runs into open space to find a position where he can help the team, which is not something that you can say about players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde.
Yes, he can make mistakes, but he also provides so much fearlessness to this midfield, which is currently missing. Even Eduardo Camavinga, who hasn't been the best Real Madrid player in the last few years, does more of that than any of these midfielders.
It just does not make sense why Mourinho would opt for such an outdated tactic when he has some of the best ball progressors in Europe. Having Denzel Dumfries instead of him just does not make sense because of the problems Real Madrid have in the build-up. Trent got used to carrying the build-up of a Champions League-winning team in Liverpool. What makes Mourinho think that he cannot do the same thing now?
All of these options are better than leaving Courtois to try to make a long-range pass to his teammates in the hopes of hitting the jackpot once in a billion times. Real Madrid may have won this game, but Mourinho needs to fix this as soon as possible if he wants to keep his job for longer than just five or six months.
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