This post was published to Taktikan | Football Tactics at 8:57:38 PM 1/8/2015
Copa Del Rey (1st leg) Atletico Madrid 2-0 Real Madrid: Compact Atleti maximize chances to secure a good lead, in an all 4-4-2 battle
Another derby, in the Copa Del Rey first leg, with both managers rest some of their regular squad players – somewhat of a tradition in Spain. Both teams started in a 4-4-2 formation for the first time recently – as Real always were playing some variant of 4-3-3 in attack and 4-4-2 only in defense. Simeone rested Koke, Arda and Mandjukic with Torres making his debut while Ancelotti rested Ronaldo, Caravajal and Pepe – what moved Isco to the wing and Khedira to the midfield.
Regularly when the formations matched, it leaves the game to one-on-one battles – and most often the better quality team wins. That wasn’t really the case in this game – the 4-4-2 each team executed was very different. While Real had the ball most of the time, they were playing 4-2-4 – which allowed them to press high quite effectively, especially at the beginning. We can see below from the actual playing position as per whoscored.com,
Look how compact are Atleti (left) compared to Real (right) and notice the big gap in the midfield Real left
Atletico used the gap in midfield to launch very dangerous counters, Simeone use Juanfran wisely –as he is only defender who is able to attack effectively – putting Isco against him was quite a gamble, as one would prefer someone fast. Real did their job overloading the flanks – they did it quite well, crossing more than 30 crosses. Thing is, although Real had their chances (but didn’t use them), crossing against Atletico is quite ineffective – due to their aerial defense. Quite surprising stat is the aerial duels – Real won 18-9!, which again proves that it’s not the individual aerial defense but a great, united team work makes Atleti such a good side in aerial defense. Real did (what they had to do) quite well, they managed to create, press and disassemble Atletico pressure (which seemed like they didn’t want to press too high) – but again, missed their opportunities.
After all, as we said about matched formation, it was about individuals who made the result. Silly mistake from Ramos caused a penalty in the first goal, and the 2nd was from set piece as usual (for Atleti). Real got a mountain to climb at the Bernabeu, interesting how Ancelotti will approach this game – it looks like he tries every time some another pattern when playing against Atletico. Atletico meanwhile, just need to do what they are best at, defend, soak the pressure and find their chances through counters and set pieces.
