Real Madrid Vs Inter Milan [2-1] Champions League 2026/2027: Why Cristian Chivu Tactics Struggled Against José Mourinho Defensive Strategy - Tactical Analysis

Real Madrid hosted Inter Milan at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for their first match of the 2026/2027 UEFA Champions League.

The contest ended with an important win for the hosts.

Real Madrid started their European journey with a win that boosts their confidence following a negative result in La Liga that made them subject to criticism.

Importantly, this match confirmed to the team and to José Mourinho that they can play according to a different style and still win, meaning that they can alternate game plans according to the opponent and not rely solely on attacking football.

In this match, Real Madrid were defending for the larger part of the match, and although they risked conceding goals, this playing style made them more dangerous upfront as they relied on a periodic high press and on counterattacks when possible, without exposing their defensive line.

This approach made Cristian Chivu's team lack solutions, especially in attack, as I Nerazzurri are used to relying on quick attacking transitions and counterattacks.

Furthermore, Real Madrid’s periodic high press succeeded in preventing Inter Milan from building out from the back with ease, and was the direct reason for Real Madrid scoring their two goals.

In this Real Madrid versus Inter Milan tactical analysis, we focus on Real Madrid’s periodic high press, Inter Milan’s attacking solutions and errors, and Real Madrid’s overall intelligent defensive game plan.

Real Madrid Vs Inter Milan Lineups & Formations

Real Madrid’s 4-2-3-1 Lineup vs Inter Milan

Mourinho started the match using a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Thibaut Courtois as a goalkeeper, Dean Huijsen and Ibrahima Konaté as centre-backs, Denzel Dumfries as a right-back, and Marc Cucurella as a left-back.

The midfield duo was made up of Federico Valverde and Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Vinícius Júnior and Brahim Díaz as wingers, Jude Bellingham as the advanced playmaker and Kylian Mbappé as the main striker.

Inter Milan’s 3-5-2 Lineup vs Real Madrid

Chivu lined his team up in their usual 3-5-2 formation, with Josep Martínez occupying his usual spot in goal behind the centre-backs Alessandro Bastoni, Benjamin Pavard, and Yann Bisseck.

Carlos Augusto and Andy Diouf started as the two wing-backs, while the midfield was made up of Nicolò Barella, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, and Curtis Jones.

In attack, Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram started as the two strikers.

Inter Milan’s Build-Up: Yann Bisseck’s Movement and Andy Diouf’s Right-Wing Threat

Inter Milan started the match with more confidence and ball possession, as they looked more eager to have possession and benefit from their playmaking qualities, especially inside Real Madrid’s half.

What was also remarkable from the start was the creative positioning of Bisseck in a way that allowed Inter Milan to find solutions to advance with the ball at moments when all passing options seemed blocked.

Bisseck alternated between moving in defence, in central midfield, and on the flanks too, guaranteeing passing solutions to the ball holder in the build-up phase in particular.

Apart from his positioning, the way he dealt with the ball and always looked for vertical passes was also beneficial for Inter Milan’s attacking transitions.

Moreover, Inter Milan tried to advance quickly during the attacking transitions and exploit the spaces available to Diouf on the right wing most of the time to reach the final third and try to serve one of the players inside the box.

This was Inter Milan’s recurrent attacking plan during the starting period of the match, knowing that it could have helped Inter Milan score early.

In fact, Diouf’s wing accelerations and penetrations were dangerous mainly because he was usually put in 1v1 situations against Cucurella, who preferred to defend within his team’s defensive zone, leaving Diouf time and space to accelerate and reach dangerous areas.

The absence of double marking and the late retreating of Vinícius during such situations could have put Real Madrid in big trouble defensively, even though Valverde tried to cover for his teammate and assist with the marking in this action.

It was Valverde’s extra covering efforts that later on saved Real Madrid from a similar situation where Diouf was allowed to penetrate into the box and get very close to providing an assist, but Valverde’s sliding tackle deflected the pass and made the action less dangerous.

Cucurella should have followed his direct opponent inside the box in that action and prevented him from finding the space for crossing, but that was not the case.

The duel between Diouf and Cucurella represented a real advantage for Inter Milan not just on the two mentioned occasions but on many other actions, with Diouf succeeding in either surpassing Cucurella or avoiding him and launching the desired pass/cross towards the box.

This inability to stop Diouf can be blamed on Cucurella, who failed in the direct duel, but also on Mourinho, since he did not instruct an additional player to automatically double the marking on Diouf to prevent him from facing Cucurella in 1v1 duels and therefore limit his penetrations/crosses.

In this action, for example, Diouf succeeded in easily avoiding Cucurella and opted for a left-footed cross towards the box without issues.

It is an action that could have easily led to a goal for Inter Milan, as Diouf’s cross was dangerous and could have gone inside the net following any deflection.

This was one of many situations when Diouf was able to create the threat for Inter Milan by exploiting the passive defensive style that Cucurella adopted when facing him, as well as the absence of systematic double marking on him.

In other words, Inter Milan and Diouf exploited the underestimation of the latter’s potential addition on the right-wing.