Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday following a 2-1 aggregate win against RB Leipzig. The second leg ended 1-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu though.
However, for the first time this season, Los Blancos were booed by their home crowd after the first half of that game. It was because Real Madrid looked like a shadow of themselves in that opening half with the visitors afforded multiple opportunities to bury the game.
Real Madrid's players were lethargic and passive in the game but it all reflects on Carlo Ancelotti's tactic at the start of the game.
Carletto started the game with five midfielders — Camavinga, Kroos, Tchouameni, Valverde and Bellingham, with Vinicius left as the lone forward chasing shadows.
Leipzig found it easy to keep the ball and launch attacks as Madrid were not really posing an attacking threat in the first 45 minutes. They didn't even register a shot on target in that opening half.
Perhaps someone like Brahim Diaz should've started this game. The Spaniard didn't even play the game.
Here's a lineup that showed the overcrowded midfield that didn't do Madrid any favours against Leipzig.
Ancelotti got his tactic all wrong and it reflected badly on the team's overall performance.
