Atlético Madrid – Barcelona: Simeone Remains Barcelona’s Curse In The UCL (1-2)

The second leg of the UCL at Riyadh Air Metropolitano followed an expected script at the start. A relentless attack from the Catalans with a clear mission to turn the tables against Atlético Madrid. Lamine Yamal ignited the flames, and Ferran Torres hit the climax. However, Atlético Madrid returned to the equation, exploiting Barcelona’s defensive woes. At the end, Simeone’s pragmatism rose to the top against an all-out attacking approach.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

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After Real Madrid squandered three points against Real Mallorca, the Catalans capitalized on their rivals’ defeat as they beat Atlético Madrid to expand the deficit to seven points. A week later, Real Madrid gifted Barcelona another opportunity to widen the gap, as Girona shared points with Arbeloa’s side. Hansi Flick’s team edged past Espanyol to lead the league with a nine-point difference. All the odds favor Barcelona to win the La Liga title for the second season in a row. In Europe, Barcelona hadn’t experienced a similar luxury to the league. In fact, Hansi Flick’s side survived this term due to their offensive firepower led by Lamine Yamal. However, the Catalans were vulnerable defensively, as they were unable to register a clean sheet throughout the competition.

Atlético Madrid was the recent opponent to expose Barcelona’s defensive frailties in the UEFA Champions League. Diego Simeone’s side returned to Madrid with a significant edge over the Catalans. In La Liga, Atlético Madrid secured a spot for the next UCL competition, whilst at the same time, they are mathematically out of the race for the league. Therefore, Diego Simeone leans toward resting the main crew in La Liga, aiming to secure a mental and physical readiness for the rest of the season. Atlético Madrid has a final for the Copa del Rey against Real Sociedad, but they have a test to pass first against Barcelona. The recent history is on Simeone’s side, as Atlético Madrid eliminated the Catalans twice in the same round in the 2013/14 and 2015/16 seasons.

Diego Simeone kept the same eleven that started the first leg in Barcelona, except for the backline. Nahuel Molina, Robin Le Normand, and Matteo Ruggeri remained intact, with Clement Lenglet joining them, as Marc Pubill was absent due to the accumulation of yellow cards. Marcus Llorente slotted next to Koke in midfield. Ademola Lookman and Diego Simeone hugged the touchlines. Julian Alvarez led the attack alongside Antoine Griezmann.

Due to suspension, Eric Garcia replaced Pau Cubarsi at the backline, with Gerard Martin alongside him. João Cancelo and Jules Koundé operated as fullbacks. Gavi and Pedri formed the double pivot. Lamine Yamal stretched the width on the right side. Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo operated behind Ferran Torres.

Lamine Yamal is on fire

The start of the game saw Lamine Yamal pick out the second ball after Ferran Torres’ aerial duel against Le Normand. Lamine Yamal drove toward Atlético’s traffic until he arrived at the edge of the box to fire a shot. Juan Musso saved the hosts from conceding an early goal. Three minutes later, the Catalans forced Simeone’s side to recycle, with Lamine Yamal obliging Lenglet to play backward. The former blocked off the latter’s pass. Ferran Torres collected the ball and set off Yamal in front of the goalkeeper. The eighteen-year-old slid the ball between Musso’s legs to reduce the deficit on aggregate.

Two minutes later, Barcelona’s high press woes resurfaced. Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal jumped onto the opposite center-backs. In the meantime, the Catalans attempted to shuffle across as they camped on the left side. Musso spotted Ruggeri free near the flanks, so he clipped the ball over Yamal. Due to the large distance between the fullbacks, Ruggeri headed the ball forward to Lookman before the arrival of Koundé. The Nigerian winger was able to skip past Olmo, Koundé, and Garcia’s swarm and pick out Llorente. Alvarez dragged Gavi forward with Pedri operating zonally, enabling Llorente to find Molina. Hence, Atlético generated a two-versus-one situation against Cancelo. Molina scampered forward, noticing Griezmann run between Gavi and Gerard Martin. Fortunately, Gavi cut off Molina’s pass.

At the start, Atlético Madrid opted for sitting in a zonal medium or low block. Barcelona’s dynamics paved the road for Flick’s side to create gaps to work the ball out. In fact, Pedri and Gavi operated in close proximity to the backline, luring Atlético’s midfielders out, which stretched the space between the lines. That gave Ferran Torres license to drop in and pull the hosts’ center-backs out of position. In the meantime, Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez secured the width and pinned the fullbacks, which permitted the visitors to exploit the space behind the backline.

9th minute: Llorente jumps onto Pedri, whilst Koke tends to cover the right half-space. Ferran Torres anchoring the center-backs allows Dani Olmo to punish the space behind. Pedri works the ball around to Lamine Yamal, who curls the pass to Olmo, putting him in an isolated situation against Musso. The latter’s early step-up helps him to shrink the shooting angle.

The Catalans’ off-ball movements pull apart Atlético’s low block

In settled possession, Barcelona lined up in their usual 3-2-5 dynamic shape, in which Joao Cancelo tended to advance and swap positions with Fermin Lopez on the left. Atlético Madrid sat in a 5-4-1/5-3-2 medium/low block. On the right, Dani Olmo tied Ademola Lookman down the inside channel. As Barcelona worked the ball toward the right side, Gavi tended to step behind the block, allowing Koundé to proceed with his underlapping runs. As a reaction, Koke shifted across to take charge of Dani Olmo, whereas Lookman tracked back Koundé, and Ruggeri shuffled toward Lamine Yamal. Atlético’s trio was able to neutralize Barcelona’s effect with Lenglet joining them to clear the ball and avoid the visitors’ counterpress.

On other occasions, Dani Olmo pulled wide on the right, dragging Koke with him. That also encouraged Barcelona’s double pivot to join the ball side. As a reaction, Alvarez kept tabs on Gavi, with Llorente following Pedri’s movement. In the meantime, Lookman recovered his position as he tended to jump onto Koundé, with Griezmann executing a similar role on the other side. Barcelona intentionally recycled to exploit the home team’s gaps that appeared whilst they laterally shifted.

To elaborate, Barcelona’s center-backs had time on the ball as Alvarez stuck to one of the Catalans’ midfielders. Moreover, Koke had to cover the right half-space, with Llorente swinging toward Fermin Lopez down the left half-space. That left the Argentinian striker outnumbered in the middle of the park. Garcia spotted Pedri free down the central channel. Pedri received on the half-turn and tried to release Torres between Molina and Le Normand. However, the latter blocked off the pass.

18th minute: Alvarez follows Gavi across, with Lookman jumping onto Koundé. Meanwhile, Koke plugs the gap down the right half-space, and Llorente operates zonally down the left. That vacates the center and opens up a diagonal passing lane between Koundé and Torres. The latter, with a flick-on to Pedri and Olmo attacking Lenglet’s evacuated spot, the visitors free up the right inside channel for Torres to dart into. Koke is able to intercept the pass.

When pressing high up the pitch, Lookman, Alvarez, and Griezmann ran toward Koundé, Garcia, and Martin, respectively. Behind, Llorente and Koke jumped onto Barcelona’s double pivots. Giuliano Simeone swung between operating zonally and engaging with Joao Cancelo. The hosts opted for keeping an extra defender at the backline. As a response, Dani Olmo dropped in, overloading Atlético’s midfield and encouraging Lenglet to step out. Pedri’s lofted pass met Olmo on time, who laid it off from first-time touch to Ferran Torres. However, Le Normand prevented Torres from proceeding forward.

Twenty-four minutes in, Barcelona regained the ball after forcing Atlético Madrid to clear it away. The visitors exploited the hosts’ disorganized shape, as Griezmann and Simeone’s jump onto the center-backs evacuated the left side. Hence, Cancelo was able to push on to join Lopez and Olmo to overload Molina and Llorente. After receiving Lopez’s pass uncontested down the left half-space, Olmo diagonally released Ferran Torres between the center-backs. The Spanish striker picked up the ball on the half-turn, creating separation against Lenglet to guide the ball home. Seconds later, Lamine Yamal collected Lenglet’s missed pass and drove forward. Olmo and Torres drew the center-backs attention. Therefore, Fermin Lopez came from behind, penetrating the box to capitalize on Yamal’s Trivela. However, Musso’s early step-out prevented the Catalans from expanding the deficit.

Griezmann the connector

Half an hour gone, Atlético Madrid settled the situation back to its initial state. By working the ball across the backline with Koke taking position between the center-backs, the hosts baited Barcelona forward. In the meantime, Simeone dropped in down the flanks, pulling Martin out of his position. That allowed Marcus Llorente to proceed with a run down the right half-space. Llorente’s off-ball movements gave Griezmann license to dart deeper and opened up an in-out passing lane between the French attacking midfielder and Molina. Griezmann prodded the ball onto Llorente, releasing him behind Barcelona’s backline. On the left side, Lookman embarked on a sprint, getting ahead of Koundé to guide Llorente’s square pass home.

Atlético Madrid relied on Antoine Griezmann to offset Barcelona’s counterpress due to his ability to retain the ball under pressure. After recycling, Griezmann tended to drop in and overload the Catalans’ midfield. Additionally, Lamine Yamal jumping onto Lenglet, with Lookman pinning Koundé, permitted Ruggeri to roam in a free island on the left side. As the visitors recovered their positions, Griezmann tended to act as a bridge between the two sides. On the right, Koke, Simeone, and Molina formed a triangle to execute wide combinations to attempt to get one of them into cutback positions.

36th minute: After regaining possession, Atlético Madrid recycles to the backline. Griezmann dashes deeper, creating separation against Pedri, then switches the ball to Ruggeri. Yamal’s inside position enables Ruggeri to drive forward. Barcelona quickly retreats, which obliges Atlético’s left back to slow down and pass the ball back inside to Griezmann. The latter delivers it to the right, where Alvarez joins Koke, Molina, and Simeone. As a response, Barcelona’s midfielders shift across to provide support to Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo.

Nothing changed: attack vs defense

In the second half, Atlético Madrid looked to protect their lead, retreating to defend in a 5-3-2 low/medium block. On the right side, Barcelona’s center-backs took advantage of Lookman’s narrow position, as the Nigerian tended to keep tabs on one of the Catalans pivots to block off central access. Hence, the visitors could directly pick out Lamine Yamal in a one-on-one situation against Ruggeri. In the meantime, Ferran Torres attacked depth, dragging the center-backs rearward, which widened the gap between Lenglet and Ruggeri. With an overlapping run around Atlético’s left back, Koundé offered his services for Lamine Yamal to slide the ball down the expanded gap, setting off the French right back near the backline. Koundé’s cross was overhit. Cancelo quickly collected the ball and re-sent it to Yamal at the far post. The latter headed it across to Torres. However, Musso was able to prevent Barcelona’s danger.

55th minute: Barcelona exploits Atlético’s stretched midfield line. Llorente shifts across to double up on Cancelo. Fermin Lopez pins Le Normand, and Ferran Torres anchors Lenglet. As a reaction, Koke drops between the center-backs to plug the gap. Alvarez and Griezmann operate around Barcelona’s midfielders. Hence, the Catalans are able to find the free Dani Olmo at the edge of the box. Torres pushes his man backward, which enables Olmo to spot Gavi’s late crashing-box run. Gavi looks to shoot; however, Lenglet’s last-second ditch blocks off Gavi’s delivery. The deflected ball lands at Torres’ feet, sending it home. But he is offside.

In the middle of the second half, Atlético Madrid attempted to press the visitors in a man-oriented fashion from goalkicks. Juan Garcia missed his pass toward the left side. As a consequence, Nico Gonzalez, Simeone’s replacement, benefited from his position between Cancelo and Rashford to collect the loose ball. Gonzalez drifted infield and fed Griezmann down the right half-space for the Frenchman to slide a through ball to Llorente. The latter pulled the trigger, but the ball went outside.

Alexander Sørloth replaced Antoine Griezmann in attack. Thirty-two minutes into the second half, Rashford and Pedri jumped on Molina, which left Llorente free in the middle of the park. Nico Gonzalez prodded the ball back inside onto the Spanish midfielder. Cancelo stepping out on Gonzalez left Barcelona’s backline exposed. Sørloth proceeded with a run between Garcia and Martin, adjusting his body to remain onside. Llorente slid the through ball behind the visitors’ backline. However, Eric Garcia fouled Alexander Sørloth, which drove the referee to send the Catalans’ center-back off.

Playing with one man down impacted Barcelona, especially in the counterpress. With three minutes left, Cancelo tripped over, and Molina regained the ball. The latter picked out Sørloth to bypass Dani Olmo. Sørloth scampered forward, skipping past Gerard Martin. Meanwhile, Molina galloped behind Barcelona’s backline, swimming in a free island and pointing with his hands for Sørloth to glide the ball forward. The Norwegian striker immediately responded, putting Molina face-to-face against Juan Garcia. However, the former pulled the trigger early on, sending the ball to Garcia’s hands.

Takeaways

It’s true that Barcelona was close to turning the table ahead against Diego Simeone’s side. Atlético Madrid’s mistakes at the start of the game and the Catalans’ mighty offensive firepower tipped the scales in favor of Barcelona. However, Flick’s team’s defensive frailties helped the home side to reinstate the situation as it was, handing back the semi-final ticket to Atlético Madrid. In the second half, it seemed that Barcelona downed tools until Eric Garcia’s red card, which was deemed a twist in the tale. After that event, Atlético Madrid defended relentlessly, seizing the opportunity to punish Barcelona in counterattack. At the end, Atlético Madrid secured a spot in the semifinal of the Champions League after an absence that lasted eight seasons.

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