Atletico Madrid Win over Sevilla Shows Route to Success vs. Barcelona

Atletico kept up their 100 percent start to the season and overcame the first big hurdle of their Liga fixture list as they saw off Sevilla away from home on Sunday evening, eventually leaving with three points and a 3-0 win.

It was a complete performance from Diego Simeone's men, showcasing their abilities at both ends of the pitch as they dominated the first half, took the lead and then defended resolutely after the break.

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Koke, Gabi & Jackson Martinez scored as Diego Simeone's unbeaten run against Sevilla stretched to 10 games in a 3-0 win for Atletico Madrid

— Four Four Two Media (@Four4TwoMedia) August 31, 2015"

The upcoming international break leaves Atleti as one of four sides who have won both their opening two games, with their next opponents being another: Barcelona. One of the toughest matches of the season, Simeone and his players will head into the match without fear and with a blueprint for success which they essentially gave a trial run at the Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday.

Dual Methods of Attack

La Liga, and indeed most leagues, sees lots of teams attempt to steadily build up play through patient possession, getting numbers into the final third to sustain pressure over time, while other sides look to be solid and compact and then attack on the counter, at pace and with numbers to create overloads in certain areas.

Atleti showed the capacity to attack using both of these methods at Sevilla.

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In the first instance, their willingness to operate high up the field and press quickly was a testament to the confidence that their attack was capable of creating chances, rather than simply trying to stop the home side attacking. It paid off, too, with the goal 10 minutes before half-time being scored by Koke; the midfielder is tremendously talented but does not always attempt to make up so much ground inside the box. This time he did, and it paid off in a big way.

After the break, Atleti looked to utilise the spaces behind Sevilla's midfield to counter-attack at every opportunity. Even before the late goals from Gabi and Jackson Martinez, the rojiblancos had several opportunities to exploit two-on-two or even three-on-two situations. A little better timing with runs or final passes and the game could have been dead and buried long before the 80th minute.

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That sort of counter-attacking threat will, of course, be important against Barcelona, who will expect to hold the majority of possession—but who also leave space to attack into, behind both full-backs and with the possibility for overloads in central midfield either side of Sergio Busquets.

Sustained attacks might not be seen too regularly, but if Atletico are brave enough to attempt their high press for at least part of the game against Barcelona, chances could again fall their way.

Trust in Defence

While the first half saw Atleti attack plenty and defend when they needed to, the half-time team talk from Diego Simeone was clearly to bed in, remain compact and ask Sevilla to try to break Atletico down.

Simply put, they couldn't.

There were chances, of course. A few deflected shots just off target, two instances were Jan Oblak had to make big recovery saves at the far post and a long, long succession of set pieces aimed toward Fernando Llorente in attack...but Atletico backed themselves to be able to defend any situation and simply look to counter when possible.

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They were right to do so—Sevilla controlled the ball but had neither the final pass nor the space in which to execute timely runs. The centre-back pairing of Diego Godin and Josema Gimenez worked well together, covering for each other on the odd occasion when the first attempted clearance didn't go to plan, and the midfield in front of the back four worked extremely hard.

All of this, needless to say, will be required against Barcelona. The front three of Lionel Messi-Neymar-Luis Suarez will be in place barring injury over the international break, and their movement is such that a solid platform in front of the back four is pivotal.

Atletico haven't yet conceded a goal this season, but this game will be one of the hardest of the campaign—they'd do extremely well to keep out Barcelona.

Key Men: Gabi and Griezmann

The two biggest performers on the day for Atletico against Sevilla were captain Gabi and forward Antoine Griezmann.

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Gabi was everywhere in the first half, producing passes toward the final third and destroying Sevilla's attacking moves central or in the right channel—it's early days, but this is a much more impressive start than his form of last season showed. His goal won't hurt confidence, either.

Griezmann, on the other hand, led the press early on, claimed an assist for the first goal and linked up so many times on the counter after the break. A late shot against the woodwork served further indication that Atleti could come back out and look for killer blows, as well as the confidence that Griezmann has at present.

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Atletico fans for sure happy about this, but really surprised not been more huge money speculation about Griezmann all summer.

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) August 30, 2015"

While the entire team needs a near-perfect display if Barcelona are to be vanquished in Matchweek 3, it still takes individuals of great talent to actually breach the blaugrana and put Atleti in with a chance of victory. With Gabi starting in good form and Griezmann already up and running with scoring and creating, Atleti can go with confidence that they can, at the very least, remain unbeaten after the Barcelona game—while another win would be the clearest indication yet that Simeone and Co. are very real title challengers.

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