Atletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid: Tactical Review of Madrid Derby Game

Atletico Madrid secured a commanding lead in their Copa del Rey tie against Real Madrid on Wednesday night, beating their arch-rivals 2-0 at the Vicente Calderon.

Raul Garcia and Jose Maria Gimenez scored set-piece goals to near-seal passage despite there being a second leg to play; Carlo Ancelotti will need to pull something rather special out to progress now.

Let's take a tactical look at how this match played out.

Formations and XIs

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Atletico fielded their usual 4-4-1-1 formation, with Fernando Torres making his (second) debut up front ahead of Antoine Griezmann. A much-changed XI saw Saul Niguez, Mario Suarez, Jesus Gamez, Jan Oblak, Lucas Hernandez and Raul Garcia all start.

Real Madrid were fairly close to full strength themselves, but brought in Alvaro Arbeloa, Sami Khedira, Keylor Navas and Raphael Varane to their 4-3-3 formation. There was plenty of interchanging and drifting throughout.

1. Typical Atleti: Impossible to Breach

Despite making seven changes to the side who beat Levante 3-1 at the weekend (and eight to the side that beat Real Madrid earlier in the season), Atleti never missed a beat. That is testament to Diego Simeone's system, which conquers any one individual and prioritises immense organisation and shape.

Full-backs Gamez and Lucas tucked in and rarely ventured forward, while Saul and Raul Garcia played defensive winger roles that allowed the doubling up on wide outlets when Real spread the ball.

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The formation rarely allowed pressing, instead shrinking in and closing out the space between the lines as usual. Occasionally Griezmann would press, but that was on him—a decision he was free to make if he felt necessary. The important thing was the suffocating of any room to play, and the immediate movement of the LM and RM to move wide and engage the roaming full-back as high up as possible.

Los Blancos started with Karim Benzema on the left wing in an attempt to try and manipulate any space Gamez gave up—Benzema has proven to be superb at ducking into areas full-backs vacate—but the Spaniard gave up nothing, particularly with Garcia diligently assisting him.

Bale's space up front was extremely limited, with Atleti's zonal scheme closing the gaps between the lines swiftly. What Real needed, across the board, was far quicker passing and more impetus in their movements. Without that, or a gallivanting run from one of their star playmakers, hopes were slim that Oblak would ever be truly tested from open play.

2. A More Rounded Atletico Attack

Torres' return to Atletico was perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated debuts in recent memory, and after seeing five months of the team playing with target man Mario Mandzukic up front, it was always going to be interesting to see how Torres changed, or improved, their attack.

Torres offered the same services Mandzukic does—dropping in to collect, occupying defenders and freeing up space for the AMC runner (in this case Griezmann) to operate. He also provided a threat over the top, though, which kept Real's defensive line honest and prevented them from creeping up too high.

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The Spaniard was caught offside a few times as he found his bearings, but it was Griezmann who really profited from his runs between centre-back and full-back, taking the opposite channels and steaming through on goal twice in the first 45 minutes. On the first Navas pushed a good shot around the post, on the second Varane produced a wonder tackle to quell the danger.

Of course, committing eight outfield men to defending in a low block makes for limited chances for attacks and a heavy, carrying onus on the forwards. Torres and Griezmann's work in the first half was very limited, and any chances created were fashioned by themselves.

3. Isco the Key vs. Atletico

Inside the first two minutes of the second half, Isco showed exactly how you should play against Real Madrid. He demanded an earlier release from Marcelo deep, picked up the pass as he surged between the lines and played a cute ball in for Bale.

One move, three passes, 60 yards spanned and the Gabi-Mario Suarez block completely bypassed. Quick passing and quicker releases are the only way to find daylight against this side, and while the opportunities don't arise that often, playing slowly means you'll never sniff out one.

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Isco quickly emerged as the key player in the search for a goal solely because he was willing (or was instructed to) take risks with his passing. A 100 percent pass completion rate against Atletico will likely get you nowhere, but a 50 percent completion rate with two key passes might. Isco finished the night with a four percent drop on pass completion in comparison to the team average, per WhoScored.com, but he was by far their most dangerous player.

Three chances were crafted inside the first 10 minutes of the second period, with Bale firing the best one wide after running between Lucas and Godin. For the first time all evening, los Blancos looked capable of scoring.

4. Closing the Door

But then Atletico slammed the door shut, winning a penalty and converting it via Garcia. With a lead under his belt, Simeone swapped Torres for Koke, pushed Griezmann up front and placed Koke in a deeper central midfield role to switch the formation to a 4-5-1.

Koke became the first man to engage Kroos and Co., but from a deeper starting position than Griezmann would from the centre-forward role, and he often dropped back to the edge of his own box. Just watching Koke in the second half—dropping, shifting sideways, motioning to pass markers on and sprinting into key areas to prevent early passes—was a joy to watch; an absolute masterclass in leading a zonal system.

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Carlo Ancelotti responded by sending on Cristiano Ronaldo and moving Benzema to the right (Bale retained the striker's spot), then tried to mix things up again by swapping Benzema out for Jese. The latter brought pace and width, but no end product.

The game, and most likely the two-legged tie, was sealed with a Jose Maria Gimenez header from a corner late on, making it 2-0 and two goals from set pieces for los Colchoneros.

Another failed attempt to crack the code for Ancelotti, whose record against Simeone is now verging on eyebrow-raising. What will it take for los Blancos to break through?

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