Atlético Madrid – Valencia: Simeone’s Dark Magic Saves Atlético Madrid (3-2)

In an extremely intense and chaotic match, it took three second half goals from Atlético Madrid to secure the win. Whilst Diego Simeone’s side put in a lackluster shift in the first half, they showed much more urgency in the final third throughout the second half, and strong performances from Yannick Carrasco and Matheus Cunha helped their side achieve their three goal comeback.

Tactical analysis and match report by Charlie Tuley.

It had been a tough period for Atlético Madrid, as they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Real Sociedad, lost in the first round of the Spanish Supercopa to Athletic Club, and drew with Villarreal in LaLiga all in the span of two weeks. However, they looked to bounce back against one of Diego Simeone’s favorite opponents in Valencia, and take three points off of the side that forced them into a late 3-3 draw earlier in the season.

Atlético Madrid were without Marcos Llorente, Geoffrey Kondogbia, and Antoine Griezmann for the match against Valencia, and they are still yet to sign a replacement for the departed Kieran Trippier. This meant that Šime Vrsaljko was forced to line up in the right back role, alongside José María Giménez, Mario Hermoso, and Renan Lodi to defend Jan Oblak’s goal. Atlético Madrid’s midfield was made up of Yannick Carrasco, Koke, Rodrigo De Paul, and Thomas Lemar, with the out-of-form duo of João Félix and Luis Suárez as the team’s strikers. For the second match in a row Simeone went with a formation with four defenders, an interesting decision given that . . .