Atlético – Santos: Neymar’s Santos earn a draw with a man sent off and find an unexpected hero (1-1)

Atlético Mineiro and Santos faced each other and drew 1-1 in Jorge Sampaoli’s return debut as Atlético’s coach in the Brasileirão, the Argentine who had already managed both teams and carries controversies in Brazilian football. The game took place at Arena MRV, was valid for Matchday 23 of the Brasileirão, and had a shocking storyline, with a red card, a frightening injury, and an unexpected hero.

Tactical analysis and match report by Marcus Arboés.

Jorge Sampaoli was only in his second game since returning to Atlético Mineiro. The first was the elimination against their biggest rival, Cruzeiro, in the Copa do Brasil, but there was not much that could be done. In the Brasileirão debut, he made some changes in the team and lined up: goalkeeper Éverson; Natanael and Arana (former Sevilla) as fullbacks and center-backs Vitor Hugo and Lyanco. In midfield, Alan Franco (Ecuador National Team) was one of the holding midfielders and Gustavo Scarpa (former Nottingham Forest) was the attacking midfielder. The team played with two wide wingers and Hulk (former Porto and Brazil National Team) as the center forward. In practice, the setup formed a 3-2-5 shape.

On the other side was Juan Pablo Vojvoda, an Argentine coach who had success at Fortaleza but could not repeat the same performance of previous years this season. After being sacked, he received an offer to take over Santos to organize the mess the club finds itself in and guide Neymar’s team to avoid relegation. His side was lined up in a 4-2-3-1 outline, with Brazão (former Internazionale) in goal, Luan Peres (former . . .