Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid: Tactical Review of Champions League Game
Real Madrid progressed to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday by edging Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Javier Hernandez scored the only goal late on to break Colchoneros hearts.
Formations and XIs
Real Madrid—sans Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema due to injury, in addition to Marcelo due to suspension—started with a much-changed XI. Hernandez spear-headed a 4-3-3 with Sergio Ramos in midfield, Fabio Coentrao at left-back and James Rodriguez on the right side of the attack.
Atletico Madrid played their regular 4-4-1-1/4-4-2, but rested Gabi from the start and preferred a Koke-Tiago partnership in the middle. Saul Niguez started on the flank and Jesus Gamez took up position at left-back.
1. Typical Real vs. Atleti
The first 45 minutes threw up very few surprises in terms of how the game was played. Atletico set up cautiously and played deep, defensive football, removing the space between the lines and making like difficult for the home side.
The strikers committed to tracking all the way back—particularly Antoine Griezmann—and at times all 11 could be seen behind the ball within 40 yards of their own goal.
By the 27th minute, Real had recorded 67 percent of the possession, per Sky Sports' live broadcast, but not done an awful lot with it. Soon, though, uncharacteristic mistakes began to settle into Atleti's game, with the midfielders giving the ball away in their own third and passes going astray.
Per FourFourTwo's Stats Zone, just 98 of 141 passes found their mark in the first half, with several being given away in dangerous areas. Jan Oblak was called into a fine one-on-one save on Cristiano Ronaldo to preserve the clean sheet after Tiago had gifted possession to the hosts.
Just three take-ons were completed as Atletico tried to surge into Real's third; Arda Turan had a tough time dribbling out and shouldering the attacking load.
2. Diego Simeone's Switches
Atleti defended well, but the attacking plan was almost non-existent. Simeone noticed and did everything he could to fix it, including:
- Swapped Koke to the No. 10 role for a short period in the first half and allowed Griezmann to play on the wing. Saul moved centrally to compensate.
- Brought on Gabi for Saul at half-time, pushing Koke back to the wide areas and restoring his captain centrally.
- Switched to a hybrid 4-4-1-1/4-5-1, with the No. 10 dropping to form a set of five across midfield to man the channels and block the channels.
The indecision in Simeone's game hardly helped Atletico find their feet, with the players constantly switching positions and roles. They're disciplined and well drilled, but this was just too much in too short a space of time.
The substitutions, too, were extremely odd. Usually "Cholo" uses his bench superbly, but the changes he made here were very questionable.
Most viewers were expecting a 120-minute haul given the stalemate nature of the game, so to bring Gabi on for Saul at half-time felt a bit early. Griezmann was then withdrawn for Raul Garcia just 20 minutes later, leaving Atleti with one sub heading into the closing stages.
3. The Final Nail
Arda Turan's foolish sending-off meant the Turk escaped being hooked late, as he so often is due to fitness concerns, so Simeone then made his third and oddest sub of all: Tiago, the defensive midfielder, for Jose Maria Gimenez, a third centre-back.
Atleti switched to three at the back—something this writer can never remember them doing under Simeone's tenure. There may be one or two instances floating around there, but this is not regular practice for los Colchoneros.
The problems were immediate and obvious: The defenders weren't used to this setup. When you switch from two to three at the back, positional, zonal and marking responsibilities change. You move differently as a unit, and you cover different pockets of space.
Two minutes after Gimenez came on, Real Madrid scored. Cristiano Ronaldo's quick one-two allowed him to penetrate the channel between Miranda (now LCB) and Jesus Gamez (loosely LWB) and slide a nice pass in to Hernandez to finish. Relief spread around the Bernabeu, but it was one of the must un-Atletico and un-Simeone moves (and portions of play) ever.
Bits and Bobs
- Atleti have never looked so blunt in El Derbi; Simeone's attacking plan was way off on Wednesday.
- Ramos did a very good job in central midfield, standing in front of Mario Mandzukic from goal kicks and helping his centre-backs limit the supply to the Croatian. He was a threat in the box, passed well and surged forward at will.
- Oblak again looked good. Any concerns over him will now have dissipated, and he'll be gunning for Miguel Angel Moya's position.
- Carlo Ancelotti won his first game against Simeone since last season's Champions League final. It's one hell of a mental boost, and it could change the landscape of the final weeks of the season.
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