Champions League performance insights: Real Madrid's second-half transformation

Real Madrid stormed back from 2-0 down at half-time courtesy of an outstanding hat-trick by Vinícius Júnior to overwhelm Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 3 in a contest of two hugely contrasting halves.

Carlo Ancelotti hailed his side's "best second half of the season" after a display of aggressive defending and attacking verve that drew praise from the watching UEFA technical observers David Moyes and Aitor Karanka.

Starting with Dortmund's early dominance, the roots are clearly illustrated by the first graphic showing the average position of Real Madrid's players out of possession before the break. Jude Bellingham often edged forward from midfield to form a front two with Kylian Mbappé, creating 4-4-2 out of possession with Vinícius Júnior on the left and fellow Brazilian Rodrygo on the right.

This opened the door for Dortmund to exploit the overload in midfield, where Luka Modrić and Federico Valverde often faced three Dortmund players. Felix Nmecha took full advantage, dominating proceedings in the No6 role. The second graphic highlights how regularly he received in central areas, often between the lines, allowing Dortmund to progress play.

The first video offers an example of this overload. It is worth noting how Nmecha receives three passes in a 20-second spell of build-up – all in the centre circle and with little opposition pressure – before finding Julian Brandt with a forward pass to set Jamie Gittens free to attack the penalty area. With Bellingham advancing to pressure centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, Modrić and Valverde are too concerned by players lurking in the half-spaces to be able to cover by pressing Nmecha.

Moyes identified how Dortmund also exploited Madrid's 4-4-2 set-up – and Vinícius Júnior's positioning in particular – by deploying right-back Julian Ryerson high and wide. "Defending on this side was one of the biggest problems for Madrid in the first half," the UEFA technical observer noted.

So how did it all change?

The third graphic highlights a key positional tweak by Ancelotti. The average positions at the start of the second half show how Bellingham moved to the left, offering crucial cover to Vinícius Júnior, who pushed further forward alongside Mbappé. Madrid were much more solid and difficult to play through and were back on level terms just 17 minutes after the restart.

Along with Madrid's positional changes came a greater focus and endeavour out of possession. “What we needed was pressure on the ball," said Ancelotti.

The second video clip displays this step-change in intensity clearly. With Bellingham now covering Dortmund's third midfielder, Modrić is free to jump and put pressure on the ball carrier, forcing a backwards pass inviting his Madrid team-mates to join the collective press that wins possession via a throw-in.

At times an emboldened Madrid seemed to deploy player-for-player marking, with the centre-backs willing to step out of the back line as Antonio Rüdiger does in this example.

Madrid's second-half dominance of possession (55%) proved more fruitful than Dortmund's 54% in the first half as Vinícius Júnior flourished with an "old-fashioned" display of "direct and aggressive" attacking, according to Moyes.

The final graphic further highlights the home team's second-half prowess. After just 14 regains in the first half, Madrid managed 22 in the opposition half after the break – half of which were in the attacking third. Nmecha's control in midfield was muted for Dortmund, who switched to five at the back after Nuri Şahin replaced Gittens with defender Waldemar Anton in the 55th minute. Whereas Nmecha received between the lines eight times before the break, he managed it only twice afterwards. Similarly, centre-back Schlotterbeck found the German playmaker just twice in contrast to 12 times in the first half.

Afterwards, Ancelotti talked about the importance of correcting "the little details" at half-time. Modrić recognised the shift in attitude too. "We pressed more, we ran more as a team," said the Croatia international.

Moyes hailed the power of the Real Madrid effect. "I think the history of the football club put pressure on the players to perform as they did in the second half. The minute they saw their team getting some joy the crowd was incredible and Dortmund couldn't control the game."