As Real Madrid was not playing very well in Valladolid, José Mourinho used his substitutes to find the formula for his side to improve, with the result that he used four different defensive line-ups in the same match.

At the beginning, Mourinho finally included Nacho in the starting line-up and embedded him in his classic defence system: Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Nacho-

After half-time. Despite Real Madrid having equalised, making the score 2-2 just before half-time, thanks to play by Özil and Benzema, Mourinho was still not content, and was looking for more bite up front. He took Nacho off and sent on Di María, surprisingly placing Callejón at left back, so the defence now read: Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe and Callejón.

In the 61st minute, Arbeloa was replaced by Modric, and Mourinho rearranged his defence once more, with a never-before-seen line-up. Sergio Ramos returned to right back and Xabi Alonso went to the middle. At that point, the defensive line-up of Real Madrid was, from right to left, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Pepe and Callejón.

In the 73rd minute, after Varane went on to replace Benzema, Mourinho went back to his more customary defence, sending Ramos to the middle of the defensive line-up and placing the Frenchman at right back, thus: Varane, Ramos, Pepe and Callejón.