Lopetegui's change of style: Real Madrid pass the ball more than Barcelona LaLiga Santander According to statistics so far

Barcelona's trademark under Pep Guardiola was to have possession of the ball and nowReal Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui is hoping to have plenty of success using the same formula, if his approach in the first few games of the season is anything to go by.

There were many at the Bernabeu who criticised the passing game simply because it came from Barcelona and by the same measure, the more different was Real's approach the better. Mourinho was seen as the antethesis to Guardiola and Real had 27,366 fewer passes than Barcelona overall while the Portuguese was in charge.

However, times change and now there is a change of approach under Lopetegui, with Real having 1,505 passes so far compared to 1,470 by Barcelona with a 90.76% success rate, to the Catalan side's 87.89%.

The key player in this new approach is Toni Kroos and he has made 220 successful passes from a total of 226, the best rating from any player in the league who has made over 15 passes.

Against Getafe and Girona, Real pressed high up the pitch and showed plenty of movement in attack. This year it is the aim of the club to once again be the top side in Spain and so far they are on track.