Atlético Madrid – Real Madrid: Valverde’s Foul And Last Minute Heroics Allow an Uninspired Real to Edge Past a Rocky Atlético (0-0, 1-4 after pens)

Real Madrid needed penalty kicks to decide a close game where both teams could not break down the opponent. In the first half, Atlético’s pressing game dominated, yet Real’s defense did not allow them to turn that control into shots. In the second half, substitutions caused the game to be played at a faster pace, with both teams trading attacks that crashed into each other’s defensive walls. In extra time, an even more direct Real team exposed itself further to Atlético counterattacks, leading to a very decisive moment…

Tactical analysis and match report by José Pérez.

The controversial new Spanish Super Cup format led us into a rather unique final featuring the two giants who did not win a domestic title this year: Atlético and Real Madrid. This turned out to be like most Madrid derbies during the Simeone era, with both teams mostly cancelling each other out.

Real accessed the final by steamrolling a lackluster Valencia, whose meek defense failed to press Real’s midfielder-heavy lineup enough and allowed them to run amok. Following the success of this approach, Real repeated this lineup against Atlético. Nominally speaking, Casemiro, Modrić, and Kroos formed the central midfield trio, while Valverde and Isco played as the nominal wingers and Luka Jović acted as the lone striker. In practice however, Isco moved freely across the . . .

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José Pérez (31) writes and talks about anything football-related: players, tactics, analytics, the relationship between football and society. Whenever he is not working on high-power lasers, he tries to keep up with all big five European leagues, but focuses particularly on La Liga. Outside of Between the Posts, you can find him arguing with people and posting analyses on Twitter or answering questions on Quora. [ View all posts ]

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