Real Madrid embrace the tiki-taka against Valencia

Zidane's side attempted 798 passes (739 completed), a figure which has only been surpassed on six occassions over 90 minutes since the 2005-06 season.

Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid embraced the tiki-taka against Valencia, recording their best game this season in terms of passing statistics, according to Opta data.

Over the course of the game in Jeddah, Zidane’s side carried out 798 passes, of which 739 were completed, translating to a 92.6% accuracy rate.

That is the most passes Los Blancos have attempted in a game since the 870 executed on September 1, 2018 in the 4-1 win over Leganés, when Julen Lopetegui was on the bench.

To put the Valencia passing numbers in perspective: Madrid have managed more passes on just six occasions over 90 minutes since the 2005-2006 season, when these statistics started to be registered. 

The Opta data also showed that Isco attempted 102 passes (completing 96), which is the highest such figure the Malaga-born midfielder has recorded in a Real Madrid shirt.

Madrid set best passing records this season

The possession stats also demonstrate that Zidane’s side played at speed. While they recorded the highest number of passes this season, they did so with 61.6% of possession, which is just the 11th highest such figure this season over 26 games.

Overall, in Jeddah against Valencia, Madrid recorded their best figures of the season in: attempted passes (798), passes completed (739), passing accuracy (92.6%), passing accuracy in the opponents half (91.2%) and number of failed passes in the opponents half with just 42.

After the first half of the LaLiga season, Madrid is ranked second in possession (58.36%) and in attempted passes (10,601). Both stats are led by Barça, although Los Blancos do surpass their rivals in passing accuracy in the opponent’s third – 79.5% compared to El Blaugrana’s 79.1%.