Atlético Madrid – Barcelona: Second Half Improvement Salvaged A Comeback For Flick’s Side (1-2)

Since he became Atlético Madrid’s manager, Barcelona has been a tough nut to crack for Diego Simeone. This time was no different. In the first half, Diego Simeone’s game plan generated plenty of clear cut chances against Barcelona’s frail defense. Nonetheless, the players failed to convert. The Catalans salvaged a comeback, dominating proceedings in the second half.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

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Before the clash, Atlético Madrid trailed Barcelona by two points. Diego Simeone’s side drew once against Villarreal and lost once against Athletic Club, tallying 28 points out of 33 possible. That placed them in second place and put them in the discussion of one of La Liga’s contenders this term. However, the situation isn’t encouraging in the Champions League. Atlético Madrid squandered six points, coming out defeated against Liverpool and recently against Bayern Munich, whereas they shared points with Stuttgart and had won only against Manchester United. Atlético’s UCL performances pushed them to twenty-third place with only four points.

After losing to Paris Saint-Germain and arch-rival Real Madrid, question marks loomed on the horizon about Hansi Flick’s playing style, especially against teams of a similar quality. The Catalans could create chances in abundance; however, the team showed fragility in defense. Opponents have become more used to the high line and offside trap. Additionally, they come up with different solutions to break down Barcelona’s high press and expose the large spaces in behind. These defeats were redeemed by a 6-1 thrashing against Alaves and a victory against Aston Villa in the Champions League before heading to Madrid.

Hansi Flick maintained the same backline as in Aston Villa’s game. Brian Fariñas, Pau Cubarsi, Gerard Martin, and Joao Cancelo operated in front of Juan Garcia. Marc Bernal replaced Rodri due to injury, joining Pedri in the pivot. Fermin Lopez sat behind Raphinha, who was flanked by Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon.

Across Atlético Madrid’s backline, Marc Pubill and David Hancko formed the heart of the defense, whereas Marcos Llorente returned to the right back spot. Alejandro Grimaldo remained intact in the left back position. Diego Simeone fielded Koke to partner with Pablo Barrios in the midfield, whereas Giuliano Simeone and Alex Baena maintained their starting positions. Alexander Sørloth made way for Lee Kang-in to lead the attack alongside Julian Alvarez.

Atlético’s switches of play, Barcelona’s errors

Diego Simeone did his homework, working out solutions to Barcelona’s high press. Opponents have been relying on dragging Barcelona toward the ball side before switching the play to the opposite side. Atlético Madrid was no different. One minute in, Pablo Barrios dropped as a situational left back, whereas Koke shuffled across. Both midfielders dragged Fermin Lopez and Pedri to the left side before Barrios switched the play to Llorente on the right. Barcelona’s high press structure consisted of Gordon pushing on to mark Pubill so Cancelo could step up onto Llorente. However, Kang-In pinned the Portuguese fullback near the touchlines, so Llorente was free to collect the switch.

The high position of Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon proved to be a double-edged sword for Barcelona. As the hosts found room to switch, Kang-In and Llorente outnumbered Cancelo on the right side. The latter jumped onto Atlético’s right back, who fed Kang-In. As a reaction, Bernal dropped to plug the gap, as Gerard Martin shifted across. As a consequence, no midfielder was left to cover the space in front of Barcelona’s backline. Hence, Kang-In was able to switch to the left side, where Grimaldo and Baena overloaded Farinas. Grimaldo overlapped his compatriot inside the box, trying to play the ball across to Alvarez and into the corridor of uncertainty. Fortunately, Cubarsi quickly blocked Grimaldo’s delivery.

When sitting in a low block, Atlético Madrid tended to force Barcelona into errors in order to regain the ball and transition. Kang-In and Alvarez cut off access between Cubarsi-Bernal and Martin-Pedri. Barrios stepped up on Bernal, passing Fermin Lopez to Baena. Koke marked Pedri, whereas Simeone pulled wide toward Cancelo. Across the backline, Llorente dealt with Gordon, Pubill and Hancko doubled up on Raphinha, and Grimaldo kept tabs on Lamine Yamal as he moved across.

Atlético’s pivots tended to get tight on Pedri and Bernal, forcing them into backward passes. Three minutes in, Barrios and Koke pounced on Bernal and Pedri, pressing them into passing backward to Farinas. Bernal’s pass wasn’t accurate, putting Farinas in a difficult situation. Baena stepped up, collecting the knockdown and turning the ball over. Baena braking and holding onto the ball allowed Barcelona to recover. The hosts worked the ball across to the right side. Gordon and Cancelo doubled up on Kang-In around the box, whilst the center-backs remained with Alvarez. Therefore, Llorente could arrive late into the gap between Martin and Cancelo, heading toward the byline. Kang-In set up Llorente, whose cutback was blocked by Gordon.

Two minutes later, following a long clearance from Pubill, Atlético Madrid was able to pick up the second and loose ball. On the right side, Koke spotted Julian Alvarez running before the halfway line between Farinas and Cubarsi. Pedri deflected Koke’s pass to release Alvarez against Juan Garcia. The latter succeeded in delaying the Argentinian striker by poking the ball in the moment Alvarez tried to dribble past him. That allowed Barcelona to retreat and Gerard Martin to recover and prevent Alvarez from finding teammates by blocking his pass.

9th minute: Farinas puts little pressure on Baena after Grimaldo’s throw-in. So, Baena can switch the ball to the right side, where Llorente and Kang-In overload Cancelo. The latter’s being tied up to Kang-In steps up late. Therefore, Atlético’s pair bypasses the Portuguese fullback. Kang-In notices Alvarez on the far side, sliding the pass across Barcelona’s backline. Around the six-yard box, Alvarez squares the ball to Simeone, who darts into the blindside of Cubarsi to give his team the lead.

Barcelona’s frail defense and central penetration

In the middle third, Cancelo and Gordon provided double width. By standing on the ball, Cubarsi tended to bait Atlético Madrid forwards. Simeone and Baena were ready to press up Martin and Farinas, whereas Julian Alvarez marked Bernal. In the meantime, Pedri vacated his spot, coming short down the left half-space and dragging Koke forward. Hence, Cancelo could narrow inside behind Atlético’s midfield and offer numerical superiority with Gordon around Llorente. Cubarsi provided the Catalans with the quality of breaking down the hosts via his passes to access the space between the lines. However, the visitors rushed their pass into Raphinha, who was doubled up by the center-backs.

Alvarez, Barrios, and Koke marking Barcelona’s midfielders closed off access in front of the visitors’ situational back three to find central inroads. Consequently, the Catalans were forced to work the ball around Atlético Madrid’s block. What added insult to injury was Barcelona’s inaccurate lateral passes, which the hosts pounced on to collect and expose the space in behind. Most specifically, Kang-In  Lee picked up Farinas’ miscued passes. As a reaction, Cubarsi had to step out, and Farinas had to sweep behind his teammates. Hence, the home team could exploit the vacated left half-space in the transition.

It was true that Barcelona funneled Atlético Madrid toward the wide channels when pressing high up the pitch. However, the hosts were able to find a route back to Oblak. From there, Barcelona’s midfielders were drawn forward, so Oblak could play passes over the top to the forwards into the space between Barcelona’s backline and the pressing unit. Giuliano Simeone found no problem in controlling Oblak’s long pass and laying the ball off to Alvarez. Barcelona’s defensive issues persisted, as Grimaldo advanced, overlapping Baena and outnumbering Farinas. The high position of the midfielders and wingers enabled Baena to pass the ball across the backline and isolate Kang-In against Cancelo inside the box. The latter would cut in and shoot into Garcia’s hands.

When pressing high up the pitch, Alvarez and Kang-In were tasked with a dual role. The ball-side player had to jump onto the opposite center-back and cut off the lane into Bernal, whilst the other had to shift and keep tabs on the Spanish midfielder so Atlético could maintain an extra defender across the backline. The Catalans found a solution through Pedri, coming short. To elaborate, Bernal tended to shuttle across, so the distance with Alvarez was large. Pedri dropped in to bounce the ball off to Bernal. Meanwhile, Raphinha moved deeper, unmarked, to complete the up, back, and through passing sequence. Pedri would pick out Gordon, hugging the touchlines. As a reaction, Koke peeled off wide to support Llorente, which freed up Pedri inside. Fortunately for the hosts, Barrios cut off the passing lane into Raphinha and Fermin Lopez inside the box.

35th minute: Barcelona’s central combinations. Raphinha drops in to link between Cubarsi and Bernal. By orienting his body toward the left side, Bernal deceives Kang-In to push on, which unlocks the space ahead for the Spanish midfielder to drive into. The close proximity between Bernal, Pedri, and Raphinha and the half-turn receiving allow the trio to thread passes, navigating the ball upward. Simeone and Pubill halt Raphinha’s movements.

Nine minutes later, Kang-In and Koke stepped up, following Gerard Martin’s backward pass to Pau Cubarsi. Julian Alvarez left Pedri free to receive Cubarsi’s pass and drive through Atlético’s block. Simeone and Barrios’ attempt to close down Pedri failed, as the latter picked out Fermin Lopez between the lines. Lopez intended to set Bernal inside the box; however, Pubill intercepted the pass. Fermin Lopez fired the loose ball home.

When the center was clogged, Lamine Yamal offered solutions on the wide channels. In detail, Alex Baena had to take charge of Barcelona’s right back, whereas Grimaldo pulled wide to engage with Lamine Yamal. Atlético’s center-back doubled up on Raphinha at the edge of the box. Therefore, Fermin Lopez could proceed with a run into the gap between Hancko and Grimaldo. Additionally, Lopez tended to sneak behind Barrios’ blindside, heading over the byline and calling Lamine Yamal to release him there. Fermin Lopez could decelerate and wait for Yamal’s late arrival into the box to cut the ball back around the six-yard box. Yamal underhit the pass for Raphinha to collect the loose ball and try to pull the trigger. However, Pubill immediately got tight, blocking the Brazilian effort.

Barcelona’s second-half improvement

Hansi Flick took off Brian Fariñas and introduced Frenkie De Jong. Maintaining an extra player behind cost the hosts high up the pitch. At the start of the second half, Alvarez and Simeone jumped onto the center-backs, whereas Koke marked Bernal. Kang-In took charge of Cancelo. Fermin Lopez dropped deeper alongside Pedri. As a result, the pair overloaded Pablo Barrios. In the meantime, Bernal spun around Koke, skipping past him and carrying the ball from the left side diagonally to find Lamine Yamal coming short into the right half-space. The latter flicked the ball to Fermin Lopez, who darted behind Koke. From there, Lopez and Pedri worked the ball to Gordon. The hosts collapsed into the box, whilst Gordon glided the ball inside to Lamine Yamal, who escaped Grimaldo at the edge of the box to shoot from a distance.

Opting to attack down the center is a double-edged sword. Indeed, the Catalans came up with solutions to cut through Atlético Madrid on occasion. Nonetheless, a possession loss in the center put the visitors in dire straits. Nine minutes into the second half, Fermin Lopez came close to Cubarsi, missing his pass to Pedri in the left half-space. Giuliano Simeone stepped out to pick up the ball. He picked out Kang-In, who flicked it to Koke in the middle of the park. The latter set Julian Alvarez behind Barcelona’s backline. The Argentinian striker tried to dink it over Juan Garcia; however, he blasted the ball over.

Barcelona’s high press improved in the second half. The first line of pressure succeeded in delaying passes to Atlético Madrid’s fullbacks, which enabled the Catalans’ ball-side fullback to arrive on time toward his counterpart. As a reaction, the home team resorted to long deliveries. Oblak targeted the right side, where the hosts had their reliable aerial threats in Simeone and Sørloth. Atlético’s midfielders joined the ball side to win the second ball. That dragged their markers across and vacated the opposite side to access via switches. The same frailties continued to hinder the visitors. One of the double pivots had to shift across to support De Jong and match Grimaldo and Alvarez in numbers on the left side. However, that left Gerard Martin overloaded at the far post.

65th minute: As aforementioned, Barcelona is versatile in generating chances. Before scoring the second goal, Sørloth and Baena failed to retreat on time, which permitted Pedri to scamper forward and work the ball to Lamine Yamal. Barrios shuffled across to offer support to Grimaldo, as Baena was late in tracking back. In the meantime, Lamine Yamal spotted Fermin Lopez sneaking behind David Hancko’s blind side and released him in front of the goal. Fermin Lopez guided the ball home.

After securing the lead, Barcelona sustained possession, working the ball around Atlético Madrid’s block and seizing the right moment to catch the home team off guard. Still eight minutes left, Diego Simeone’s side jumped on from a low block in order to force the visitors backward. However, the Catalans circulated the ball across the backline. Near the touchlines, Gerard Martin found Gordon dropping near the halfway line. The English winger skipped past Llorente and picked out Gavi, who pulled wide. The pair combined near the flanks, setting Gordon behind the backline. He penetrated the box and looked to square the pass to Lamine Yamal, arriving at the edge of the six-yard box. The ball travelled across to the opposite side with nobody touching it.

Takeaways

The clash between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona was a game of two stories. A first half in which Diego Simeone’s side exposed Barcelona’s defensive woes via dragging the Catalans toward the ball side and exploiting the far side via switches and wide overloads. Not only that, but Atlético Madrid forced Barcelona to commit mistakes, through which Los Rojiblancos navigated their turnovers. Nonetheless, the efficiency was lacking in translating the effort into goals.

Barcelona improved in the second half and changed the picture of the inability to compete against bigger teams. The introduction of De Jong allowed Hansi Flick’s side more control and stability in possession. The Catalans came up with different solutions rather than being persistent in penetrating through Atlético’s block. Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez’s connections gave Barcelona the edge, securing three points against a tenacious opponent.

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