Ancelotti gnaws at Postecoglou's bones in the Clasico: Ronaldo present yet absent

Al-Ittihad did not settle for pressing the ball carrier alone. They also closed off most of the passing lanes for Al-Nassr's players, winning a large number of one-on-one duels and dispossessing the ball in advanced areas.

The team moved as a single block, so the moment the ball was lost the pressing began immediately. With Bergwijn and Al-Ghamdi in advanced positions and then drifting into central areas, Al-Nassr began to find great difficulty passing the ball from one line to another. Little surprise, then, that "the Global Club" failed to bring the ball out cleanly during roughly the first 22 minutes.

The pressing bore fruit early through a George Ilenikhena goal in the fourth minute. More importantly, that goal was no isolated incident separate from the shape of the match. It came as a direct result of the superiority Al-Ittihad imposed from the start. 

Ilenikhena found the space he needed behind Al-Nassr's defence, exploiting the surging of the back line and the advance of the entire team forward to hand "the Dean" an early lead that forced their opponent to change their calculations quickly.

Consider Ilenikhena himself. The Nigerian striker was the ideal weapon for Vieceng's plan, because he excels at moving behind defenders and exploiting open spaces, which is precisely the point through which Al-Ittihad tried to hurt Al-Nassr. 

In the 22nd minute the player returned to score a superb goal that confirmed his superiority. It made the brace the tenth of his career overall, and revealed at the same time how successful Vieceng had been in employing his striker's abilities correctly against an advanced defence.

Direct balls alone did not drive Al-Ittihad's attack. Control of midfield also contributed to making the process of reaching Al-Nassr's goal easier. Lobbe and Mukhtar imposed their presence inside the manoeuvring zone, while Bergwijn and Al-Ghamdi moved into central areas to create a numerical advantage. That separated Al-Nassr's lines from one another and reduced the spaces available to their players to build an organised attack.

One of the most prominent problems that emerged at Al-Nassr was linked to Cristiano Ronaldo, not only because of his attacking output, but because of the effect of his presence on the entire pressing system.

 Ronaldo could not apply constant pressure on Al-Ittihad's defenders. That handed Danilo Pereira in particular more space and time to receive the ball and build the attack from the back without any real disruption. Al-Ittihad started their attacks calmly on more than one occasion, then moved the ball into the areas they wanted without facing the pressure Al-Nassr needed to force mistakes.

Tactically, you could describe Ronaldo as "present yet absent". His presence on the pitch gave Al-Nassr one of the most dangerous strikers in the world. In return, it left the team looking a man short in the press whenever Al-Ittihad's defence had the ball. 

The problem is not the player's value or his ability to score. It is that the nature of the match demanded continuous collective pressing, and Ronaldo could not provide it in the required manner.

Saudi Pro League match ticketsBuy your ticket now!

Postecoglou could have tackled this by adjusting the shape of the press or reducing the spaces between the lines. He did not find the appropriate solution at the appropriate time, especially as Al-Ittihad had already scored twice. 

With "the Dean" continuing to dominate the first third of the match, Al-Nassr were forced to chase the game rather than control it. That made the task tougher against a team that knows exactly where the spaces are and how to exploit them.

Fesing also exploited the forward runs of Al-Nassr's full-backs perfectly. His players sent long balls in behind them the moment they won possession, opening up large spaces for Al-Ittihad to transition from defence to attack. 

Here lay the proof that "the Dean's" coach did not settle for studying Al-Nassr's weaknesses. He turned their attacking weapons into weaknesses too. Every time the two full-backs advanced, a new space appeared behind them ready to be exploited. Every time Al-Nassr lost the ball, Al-Ittihad reached their goal quickly.

Around the half-hour mark, Al-Nassr gradually found their balance and began coping better with Al-Ittihad's pressure. "Al-Alami" kept the ball more comfortably and started reaching the attacking third. 

The improvement told on the scoreline. Angelo pulled one back in the 36th minute, handing his side a huge lift and dragging the match back into more complicated territory before the break.

Angelo's goal signalled that Al-Nassr were finding answers, and that if Al-Ittihad kept pressing at the same intensity they risked leaving gaps for their opponents. Now the other side of Vieceli's character surfaced. He refused to treat his lead as an invitation to keep gambling. In the second half he changed the shape of his side and sat deeper, trusting transitions and the spaces Al-Nassr would leave as they chased an equaliser.

You can discuss topics and news in greater depth on the "Kooora" forums

That switch transformed the game after the interval. Al-Nassr took the initiative, the ball and the pressure, while Al-Ittihad defended as a compact block and waited to break forward. 

The logic was simple. A goal down, Al-Nassr had to commit more men forward, opening the spaces Al-Ittihad could attack on the counter. Vieceli kept his advantage without ever needing to take a risk.

Late on, he leaned into Al-Nassr's nature by introducing Youssef En-Nesyri and targeting crosses and balls into the box. 

Bringing on the Moroccan striker made perfect sense given how the game had shifted. Al-Ittihad now had to withstand relentless Al-Nassr pressure, and En-Nesyri could feed off aerial balls and movement inside the area, while offering an extra outlet on the break as the gaps behind Al-Nassr's defence widened.

In the closing stretch, the young coach trusted the transitions and left possession entirely to Al-Nassr, settling the contest on merit.