Mourinho's Chelsea is one of the most innovative team ever seen tactically. They got into semi final of UCL but weren't semented into the absolute top clubs of the Premiere League yet until Mourinho came. It took 2 entire seaons for the opposite teams to start knowing how to deal with this because they never seen that before. Chelsea had Cech gk, Terry and Carvalho cb, Gallas and Ferreira fullbacks, Makelele holding midfielder, Essien and Lampard as box to box midfielders, Robben and Duff wingers and finally Dorgba forward. Gudjohnsen could replace Drogba forward as well. To the english teams, using a holding midfielder, Makelele in this pure 6 role, was mindblowing back then. Premiere League was obsessed with 4 4 2 back then whatever it was Man United, Arsenal. They always had 2 center midfielders. It gave teams balance with 2 players in every single positions of the pitch outside gk. During build up, both cb separated a bit wide with both fullbacks pushing slightly further up and Makelele dropping, forming a bow with the 2 cb and the gk. Generally teams had one ball playing center back and the other heading balls out, tackling, and all conventionnal things. Chelsea had 2 ball playing centerbacks. Both cb would be free to carry the ball higher on the pitch when opposition sit deep in their 4 4 2, to help the rest of the team to advance. But when they pressed higher theere were almost always Makelele free in the center. Chelsea had now 2 cb and 3 miedfielders so 5 players centrally. There was always a free men in the center of the miedfield. If teams choosed to defend them in 4 4 1 1 to cover all the 3 miedfielders including Makelele so, they couldn't defend both Terry and Carvalho with only one isolated forward. Even if when defending in 4 4 2, Makele was covered and a wide men was going to defend against the free miedfielder, this left a fullback free and in this Chelsea's system they made also something very innovative with fullbacks.
Before Mourinho came in the Premiere League, fullbacks almost never attacked the way they are attacking nowadays. In Chelsea, fullbacks provided the width to form a front 5. Mostly Chelsea's wingers may have the job of staying close to the touchline and provide crosses, they also often inverted them in the middle of the game. It could be one fullback only going high and make the winger invert with Lampard making a late run to form a front 5. Bridge in the left was a good attacking fullback. Makelele often moved into the spaces the fullback vacated to maintain that regular structure. Chelsea often ended in ridiculous situations where they still had their back 4 with one player, being either Essien or Tiago patrolling these central spaces. Chelsea was still stable, defensive and quite boring by times. But they conceded only 15 goals in one season mostly because they dominated the ball. During the same season they scored between 70 and 75 goals. Also It was difficult to attack against this Chelsea team because Mourinho didn't play with 2 good overlapping fullbacks and 2 inverting wingers. He only played with one at time. Sometimes during a game he woudl change the side in which it's happening. Chelsea could attack either down the middle with numerical superiority, either down the flanks where they could hurt others teams in different ways. Also Cech played sometimes long balls to Drogba. Some would think that against a 4 4 2 with numerical disadvantage it's stupid but it's not. Drogba received critics during his 2 first seasons in Chelsea because he wasn't a prolific goalscorer despite his potential. But Drogba was good at bullying the defenders and creating spaces for his teamates. Theorically even with Lampard's runs, both cb could close down Drogba and Lampard. But Lampard was one of the best of the world for his late timing runs in the box. Also Drogba was capable of attracting both centerbacks often, swapping between which one is marking him.
This season is one of the biggest in history of liga with Real Madrid winning la Liga with 100 points. They scored 121 goals, a record still standing. Their goal difference is 89. They also have 50 points away from home still unbeaten. They often would choose a 4 3 3 with Alonso as deep lying playmaker, and the other defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra, who made Real Madrid hard to penetrate throught the center. He was mainly used in the games against tough oppositions in knock out games. Ozil came in place of Diarra, making them more offensive. Their formation was often a 4 2 3 1. Real Madrid had an average of 57% of possession. They mainly played short to one of the 2 centerbacks. But against a team who pressed high, they were comfortable of going long as they had 2 aerial targets, being Ronaldo and either Higuain or Benzema. As one man made the header, the other would run behind often joined by Di Maria with Ozil just behind them. They searched to provoke an attack. Both centerbacks were comfortable on the ball. However, Ramos was the best here. If all passes on the midfield were cut off, he could take the responsability to conduct the ball on the pitch with Pepe covering. Even when these 2 remained deep, Pepe would generally be the deepest to allow Ramos to be slightly higher. Alvaro Arbeloa was the right back, who was more an outlet to relieve pressure when necessary. For the most part he stayed deep, slightly in advanced compared to the centerbacks when it was possible. Marcelo on the left was vital for the attacks. He dribbled alongside the line when needed. He also made more risky passes to break the lines as well as trying diagonal passes to Di Maria who would maintain the width on the right. Even without the ball, he moved higher on the pitch than the right back.
When it comes to facing tougher teams, Khedira who usually was often acting as an extra player in the box, often making overlaps when the right back stayed deep, was more disciplined. In this case Alonso would be a bit higher to thread long balls to the front 3. A double pivot allowed the front 4 to have more freedom with Ozil often staying centrally and spreading balls to the 3 others of the front line. But he also liked to move more wide to help the winger, often creating overloads. In this case he would often either gain time on the ball, either make a precise pass forward. Di Maria was often hugging the touchline. The rare times the right back was overlapping however, he would have the freedom to tuck inside and look for a key pass. In fact he was second in his team in term of key passes this season, only behind Ozil. He also had good long shoot qualities. However the key man was still Ronaldo. He would rarely attack the wide. Instead he would let Marcelo doing the overlap and position himself into the half spaces. Ronaldo had the most long shoots among all players from la Liga by a large margin, scoring 7 goals from outside the box. This meant that others teams had to tigh their shapes to stop him, often even double teaming against him. This freed more spaces for Ozil in the center and if the entire opposition shifted to the left side, Di Maria was often the free man to receive for a quick switch to the otehr side of the pitch. When Ronaldo left his position, Ozil often came here to look to cross into the dangerous regions into the box. But Ozil would also link up to Marcelo, passing the ball to him, so he could look to provide to Ronaldo or have a regular cross. Real Madrid attempted 22 crosses per game on average during this season. Benzema and Higuain were both hard working. Both were selfless and worked for the team, dropping to link up when necessary or even when Ronaldo needed more spaces in central areas. Both were good at scoring from crosses.
Also or creating spaces for themselves at the edge of the box. Against a weaker opposition, after loosing the ball, Madrid pressed high to win it high on the pitch when it was possible. But when they were easy bypassed, they tended to drop deeper. Madrid's priority was to protect the center of the pitch. Di Maria was a defensive winger, contrasting to Ronaldo who would stay higher up on the pitch pratically as a forward while Ozil being slightly deeper meant that their formation looked like sometimes as a lop sided 4 3 1 2 with an emphasis of closing down the center as they had 2 dominant centerbacks who could deal with crosses. Both Khedira and Alonso tried to have the most of tackles and interceptions in the second defensive line in the center. During counter attacks, both Ramos and Alonso were capable of doing long and precise balls. Often Ozil would drift behind the defensive midfielders into the space, with Ronaldo and the other forward running in behind, freeing space for Ozil while Di Maria would also join the attack. Often in this situation the opposition's fullback is high to take advantage of Ronaldo staying high and Di Maria tucking in. When Ozil was conducting the ball, the forwards were trying to make intelligent runs and Di Maria would often passing the ball for them to finish off the move.
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