Carlo Ancelotti has really taken us back to his AC Milan days, when he used to be hailed as master tactician.

At Real Madrid, he has mostly deployed a 4-3-3 system, but this season has been different.

Following the departure of Karim Benzema, the Italian switched to a 4-4-2 system.

Against Sociedad, Ancelotti started Rodrygo and Joselu upfront in a 4-4-2 shape, but tweaked his system at half-time, and also after his side took the lead.

Explaining the tactics deployed when it was 2-1, Ancelotti said: “We lowered the block because we were ahead and I set up a 4-4-2 with Bellingham on the left and then a 4-5-1.

“We needed to defend well and that’s what we did. I’m not worried about playing a low block and playing on the counter. We’ll do it when we need to. After 70 minutes we needed to defend and counter-attack.”