How Celtic can sting the mighty Real Madrid

They don’t come much bigger than the Spanish champions, who will pitch up at Parkhead for the opening match of Group F with a squad full of the brightest football stars on the planet.

Los Blancos also bring with them an unrivalled European pedigree, having won the competition a total of 14 times in their history.

They are the current holders too, beating Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in May, and have reached the final five times in the past decade and winning every time.

Their manager Carlo Ancelotti is also the most decorated coach in the history of the competition, lifting the trophy on four occasions throughout his illustrious career.

There really could not have been a more sizeable task for Celtic to face as they kick off in the competition proper for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

So what chance do the Hoops have of taking anything from one of the most highly-anticipated matches in the club’s recent history?

This analysis will take a closer look at where there might be an opportunity for Ange Postecoglou's men to exploit Real, how the Spaniards might set up and where their greatest threats lie.

Likely starting XI

Real Madrid will line up in Ancelotti’s favoured 4-3-3, like the below from their recent La Liga game against Espanyol.

Thibaut Courtois will be in goal and their back four will consist of either Dani Carvajal or Lucus Vazquez at right-back with a centre-back pairing of Eder Militao and recent signing from Chelsea, Antonio Rudiger. David Alaba or Ferland Mendy will take up the left-back spot, although Alaba may also be used at left centre-back.

In midfield, with the recent departure of Casimero to Manchester United, young French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, signed from Monaco for €80m this summer, will sit at the base of the midfield as a single pivot with the more advanced slots occupied by two from Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga.

Ancelotti has gone with the same formidable front three for three of their first four league games so the set up there will likely be Vinicius Junior on the left, Federico Valverde on the right and the effervescent Karim Benzema through the middle.

Rodrygo, who started their 2-1 win over Real Betis at the weekend, is the other option to start on the right.

In reserve, they will be able to call on the likes of Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, and Mariano Diaz.

Build-up play

Before picking out some of Real’s biggest threats in more detail, we can look at how Ancelotti’s side will attempt to build up in possession.   

A feature of their build-up in the early part of the domestic season has been Kroos dropping into a left-back area and forming a back three with the two centre-backs. This allows the left-back, Alaba in this example, to push up and get close to left winger Vinicius Junior.

They make the pitch as big as possible with right-back Vazquez on the opposite side staying out on the touchline. The key is Valverde, who starts to narrow.

In midfield, Tchouameni sits with Benzema dropping from the centre forward position into a central midfield, in line with Modric, to offer an option to progress the ball centrally.

In this example, Espanyol fail to get much pressure on the ball and Kroos is able to carry forward with relative ease. As Kroos does this, Benzema drifts into the left half-space and Tchouamemi moves up in line with Modric. Valverde, who has narrowed further, then makes a run inside, dragging the full-back out of position and opening up the right-hand side for Vazquez to attack.

Kroos pings a lovely diagonal ball over the right and Madrid are quickly on the attack in the opposition third.

Here we can see another example of Real’s build-up play from the back. This time progressing directly from the centre-backs to the left side, the set up is similar with Kroos dropping into left-back and the full-backs high, creating a 3-2-5 shape. The movements are similar too with the winger Vinicius Junior coming inside to create the space out wide for the full-back to exploit.

Celtic will certainly look to press in a more aggressive way than Espanyol did in this game but they will need to be particularly wary of these quick switches from Kroos which have the potential the bypass the press.

Final-third threats

Real Madrid boast some of the world’s elite attacking talent at the top end of the pitch. Talents that took them to Paris and their 14th Champions League earlier this year.

On their way to their latest success in the competition last season Real saw off Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, all teams who look to control the game with possession-based systems.

Although Real have players that can dominate the ball too - Modric and Kroos for instance - they often sat in and soaked up the pressure before short periods of high-intensity attacking play that relied on those world-class front players producing moments of magic in those periods.

Benzema, Modric and Vinicius all produced incredible moments in their run last year and Celtic will need to be wary of their individual qualities throughout the game.

Benzema’s elite movement and lethal finishing, and Modric’s strikes from range, will be obvious threats but, on the left side, Vinicius will carry a huge threat.

The 22-year-old, who scored the winner in last season’s final, has started the season on fire, with four goal contributions in the first four La Liga games.  

Direct and pacey, he is one of the most dangerous wingers in world football and capable of driving the outside or drifting inside.

Here we can see an example of the threat he possesses coming infield from the recent Espanyol game. Bursting across the face of the Espanyol defence, the Brazilian latches onto Tchoumeni’s through ball to finish the first time into the opposite corner.

With his explosive pace, he will be a major threat in transition too, so Josip Juranovic and the rest of the Celtic defence will need to always have their eyes on the former Flamengo man.

Vulnerabilities

Real have the individuals capable of making Celtic’s return to the Champions League extremely uncomfortable.   

However, there are still some areas where they might be able to cause their illustrious opponents problems.

Real have conceded goals in each of their opening four fixtures of the La Liga season, so that bodes well for Celtic's attacking chances.

The goals they have conceded have not been flukes either, they have given up some big chances, averaging an xG against of 1.35 per 90 in the first four league games.

Here we can see how Almeria caught Real Madrid cold on La Liga’s opening weekend by exploiting their high line to take a shock lead.

With right-back Vazquez jumping to press on the halfway and new signing Rudiger deeper than his centre-back partner on the night Nacho Fernandez, who is looking to catch the Almeria attacker offside, Madrid’s backline is disjointed.

This allows the Almeria attacker to break through between the centre-backs, going on to finish past Courtois who strangely decides to retreat to his line rather than coming out to narrow the angle.

This is exactly the kind of situation that Kyogo Furuhashi, if he is fit enough to play, would be more than capable of taking advantage of with his clever movement and pace in behind.

Should Real opt to sit deeper in their shape, they have shown vulnerability there too in the early part of the new La Liga season.

As can be seen above in the build-up to Espanyol’s goal, there are large distances and gaps between the lines in Real’s midfield.

The Espanyol midfielder has time and space to carry to the edge of the box, slipping in the striker who, after a couple of attempts at goal, scores to level the game.

This may be down to changes in the midfield setup following the departure of Casemiro. Tchoumeni has been impressive but should arguably have passed his man on to Alaba here and covered the space inside.

If this kind of time and space is offered up at Parkhead then players such as Matt O’Riley or Reo Hatate would be more than capable of causing damage from similar situations.

In their most recent game - a 2-1 win over Betis at the weekend - Real were undone by a throw-in for the goal they conceded.

On the same day Celtic, caught Rangers out to open the scoring in the 4-0 derby win from a throw-in.

Madrid were not switched on from a throw from left-back Alex Moreno at the Bernabeu.

Moreno’s throw was able to bounce in the box and arriving striker Borja Iglesias does well to pin Eder Militao and then knock the ball down into the path of Sergio Canales who is not picked up.

Canales steps into the space on the edge of the six-yard box and, although a few Madrid players get close as he goes to pull the trigger, they are not quick enough with his low shot going through Courtois’s legs to give Manuel Pellegrini’s side an equaliser in the first half.

Given Celtic’s success from a throw-in on Saturday, this may well be another way they could look to exploit Madrid.

Conclusion

Although as daunting a challenge as Celtic could face on their return to European’s top table, there are areas where they could get a bit of joy against the Champions League holders.

It is also worth highlighting other external factors that may also play a role on the night. None more so than a raucous Parkhead, which will be packed out in anticipation of their first taste of Europe's premier competition in five years.

If Celtic can harness that world-famous backing, exploit some of the potential weaknesses highlighted here and get a few good slices of luck along the way, then there just might be a chance of another very special European night being in the offing in Glasgow’s east end.