man. It starts with Makelele, who is between the lines. If nobody comes to him he can see the whole pitch and has time. If he gets closed down it means one of the two other central midfielders is open. If they are closed down and the other team's wingers come inside to help, it means there is space now for us on the flank, either for our own wingers or for our full-backs. There is nothing a pure 4–4–2 can do to stop things. Andrei Shevchenko's signing forced Mourinho to switch to a 4–1–3–2 for the 2006–07 season. At Inter, he won his first Serie A title alternating between a 4–3–3 and a diamond, and in his second season, the signings of Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito, Wesley Sneijder and Goran Pandev, along with that of Thiago Motta, enabled him to play a 4–2–3–1 formation, after initially using a 4–3–1–2 formation with little success in Europe, despite being effective domestically. In this formation, Cameroonian striker Eto'o was used out of position as a left-winger, and the 4–2–3–1 effectively became a pure 4–5–1 without the ball; the tactical switch proved to be effective in European competitions in particular, as Inter went on to win the treble that season. As Real Madrid manager from 2010 to 2013, Mourinho utilised an even more flexible 4–2–3–1 formation, with Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira as holding midfielders, Mesut Özil as the attacking midfielder, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Ángel Di María flanking Karim Benzema as the lone striker. This formation allowed for rapid counter-attacks, with the four attackers being able to play any of the four offensive positions. Consequently, Benzema would often drop deep to act as a false 9, thus creating space for Cristiano Ronaldo to make runs off the ball into the centre from the left flank and get on the end of passes. In the 2011–12 season, Madrid won La Liga nine points clear of second-placed Barcelona, breaking many records, including points collected (100) and goals scored (121). In all of Mourinho's three seasons at Madrid, the team consistently reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. The counter-attacking system pioneered by Mourinho continued, with its variations, to be used to further success at Madrid by his successors Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane. Mourinho is praised for his quick reactions to a game's events. In a 2012–13 Champions League round of 16 second leg