Barcelona – Atlético Madrid: The Catalans’ Flood Wasn’t Enough For A Remontada (3-0, 3-4 On Aggregate)

In a battle of attack against defense, Diego Simeone secured a ticket to the Copa del Rey final, taking advantage of the big result of Atlético Madrid in the first leg. The Catalans activated full gear mode from the get-go against a traditional Simeone side. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to force a comeback.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

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After getting tarnished 4-0 at Riyadh Air Metropolitano in the first leg of the Copa del Rey and relinquishing the league’s lead to rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona appeared to be at the beginning of a crisis of results. However, Real Madrid, fluctuating between highs and lows and having lost two consecutive games, permitted the Catalans to bounce back. Not only that, but Barcelona expanded La Liga’s deficit to four points after beating Villarreal 4-1 at Spotify Camp Nou. A win that gave Hansi Flick’s side a mental push before the second leg of the Copa del Rey.

Atlético Madrid’s hopes to win the league are nipped in the bud, trailing Barcelona by thirteen points. As a consequence, Diego Simeone’s team places greater emphasis on the UEFA Champions League after the draw put them against a faltering Tottenham. Also, Atlético Madrid increased their odds of qualifying for the final of the Copa del Rey after edging past Barcelona in the first leg. Nonetheless, history doesn’t favor Simeone’s side when facing the Catalans at Spotify Camp Now.

At the backline, Diego Simeone inducted Marcos Llorente at the right back spot and Matteo Ruggeri at the left back position, with Marc Pubill and David Hancko sitting at the heart of the defense. Johnny Cardoso joined Koke in the pivot, with Ademola Lookman and Guiliano Simeone featuring as left and right wingers. Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez led the attack.

Hansi Flick made three changes to the eleven that started the Villarreal game. Alejandro Balde made way for Joao Cancelo, and Gerard Martin replaced Eric Garcia, whilst Pau Cubarsi and Jules Koundé remained intact. Hansi Flick kept his trust in Marc Bernal to partner with Pedri in the middle of the park. Lamine Yamal hugged the right touchline, where Raphinha operated on the left. Fermin Lopez sat behind the striker Ferran Torres.

Attack vs defense

At the start, the visitors showed intentions of applying pressure on the ball in the middle third. When the ball was on its way toward Barcelona’s left side, Alvarez and Griezmann marked Cubarsi and Martin, respectively, and blocked off central access, whereas Simeone jumped onto Cancelo. Cardoso and Koke ran toward Bernal and Pedri, whilst Lookman narrowed inside to keep tabs on Fermin Lopez. At the backline, Atlético Madrid maintained an extra defender.

When the play was funneled toward Koundé, a couple of roles from the visitors changed. Lookman pounced on Koundé, handing off Fermin Lopez to Cardoso. Alvarez dropped toward Bernal, with Koke functioning in a zonal role and cutting off the diagonal passing lanes. On the far side, Griezmann took charge of Pedri, whereas Simeone retreated to form a five at the back. By doing so, Barcelona was forced to work the ball across the backline until Pedri stepped back behind the block. As a consequence, the visitors withdrew into a 5-4-1/5-3-2 low block.

At the start, Raphinha tended to embark on a sprint to punish the space in behind. That only pushed the visitors’ defensive line backward and isolated Cancelo against Simeone, giving him room to cut inside. Atlético’s double pivots were able to regain possession. However, Barcelona immediately swarmed around the ball, dispossessing Koke and setting up Fermin Lopez in a good position to pull the trigger. He hit the woodwork. On other occasions, Raphinha’s run down the left inside channel presented a sign for Cancelo to prod the pass around Simeone for the Brazilian to attack the byline and hit cutbacks or far post crosses.

Out of possession, Barcelona locked on in a man-oriented high-press. Lamine Yamal joined Raphinha to take charge of the center-backs and the goalkeeper. Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez were tasked with staying close to Koke and Cardoso, with Koundé and Cancelo jumping out onto the opposite fullbacks. Pedri marked the dropping Griezmann, whereas Bernal, Cubarsi, and Martin assumed the responsibility of Atlético’s front three.

Barcelona chased the visitors, pouncing on them like a pack of wolves. Six minutes in, Raphinha ran aggressively toward the goalkeeper, who found the free Marc Pubill. However, Ferran Torres left Koke and headed toward the ballholder, cutting off the passing lane into the center. Meanwhile, Cancelo didn’t fully commit toward Llorente, maintaining an optimal position between Atlético’s right back and Griezmann. Resultantly, he was able to intercept Pubill’s pass toward Griezmann and turn over. However, the Frenchman instantly put his body between Cancelo and the ball to ward off the threat.

14th minute: after dribbling past Griezmann, Pedri slides the pass to Raphinha, who attacks the space behind Llorente and Simeone. Pubill is unable to shift across as Ferran Torres pins the center-backs. Raphinha squares the ball to Fermin Lopez, who comes late from behind. However, Cardoso intercepts Raphinha’s pass inside the box.

Due to Atlético’s horizontal and vertical compactness, Barcelona was restricted to working the ball around to the width holders, Cancelo or Lamine Yamal. Barcelona’s wingers were isolated against Simeone on the left and Ruggeri on the right. Meanwhile, Torres, Raphinha, and Lopez dragged the backline deeper to collect the wingers’ crosses. The visitors’ aerial prowess rose to the occasion, clearing the ball away. However, the Catalans’ close proximity enabled them to counterpress and reload the attack.

After Koundé’s substitution, Cancelo moved to the right, leaving the left back spot for Balde. There, Cancelo and Yamal alternated, creating a two-versus-two situation against Ruggeri and Lookman. Fermin Lopez, Torres, and Raphinha pinned the rest of Atlético’s backline, whilst Koke covered the space in front of the defense, and Cardoso plugged the gap between Hancko and Ruggeri. Lamine Yamal had time on the ball to pick out his options via inswinging crosses from the right inside channel. However, Atlético’s defenders timed their interventions to prevent Barcelona’s attackers from establishing first contact with the ball.

Barcelona’s counterpress was suffocating. Twenty-nine minutes in, Lamine Yamal engaged with Koke after a throw-in. Raphinha collected the loose ball and set up Ferran Torres in a good position to shoot. Juan Musso saved the latter’s delivery. Fermin Lopez played a short corner kick with Lamine Yamal, who skipped past Lookman near the byline and picked out Bernal at the far post. Barcelona’s midfielder guided the ball home.

37th minute: Cancelo tying Ruggeri, and Lookman frees up Lamine Yamal behind in the right inside channel. That enables him time and space to whip the cross toward the far post to Fermin Lopez. However, Simeone towers over him to clear the ball away.

Atlético Madrid’s real threat came after forty minutes had passed in the first half. High up the pitch, Lamine Yamal hunted Hancko and Ruggeri at the same time. That confused Cancelo and drove him to stay around the visitors’ box. Not only that, but Lamine Yamal’s proceedings led to Ferran Torres leaving Cardoso and jumping on Hancko. As a result, Cardoso acted as a bridge between Hancko and Ruggeri. Atlético’s left back spotted Lookman dropping down the flank and pulling out Cubarsi. The Nigerian flicked the ball to Cardoso, bypassing the home team’s first lines of the high press. With Pedri committing forward and Bernal covering Cubarsi’s position, Julian Alvarez darted into a large space in the middle of the park to receive and set Lookman behind the backline.

Diego Simeone’s side relied on counterattacks, as well. The first minute of the added time of the first half saw Lamine Yamal expressing his frustration, as Lookman dropped deeper freely to receive Hancko’s pass. From there, Lookman picked out Alvarez near the left flank. Barcelona, slowly retreating, allowed Alvarez to cut in and find Llorente. Meanwhile, Simeone stretched the width, pulling Balde wide, which gave Llorente the opportunity to underlap down the space between Martin and Balde. Simeone released his teammate toward the byline to play the cross. Alvarez kept Bernal tied, which allowed Lookman to attack the space around the penalty area and head the ball outside.

The same story in the second half

Simeone’s side entered the second half with the same motive to defend relentlessly. Lamine Yamal, Cancelo, and Fermin Lopez tended to work the ball via wide connections and combinations in order to infiltrate through the gaps across Atlético’s backline. However, the visitors were alert, jumping onto every mispass to turn it into a transition or counterattack. Six minutes into the second half, Cardoso cut off Yamal’s inside pass to Bernal. Alvarez collected the loose ball and skipped past Pedri’s immediate pressure. Koke spotted Griezmann between the center-backs, whilst Lookman exploited Cancelo’s vacated zone. However, Yamal, Cubarsi, and Cancelo tripling up on the Nigerian neutralized his effect.

When Atlético Madrid opted for long launches, the midfield line approached the forwards to latch onto the second balls. However, the backline stayed far away to monitor Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. The Catalans had numbers around the ball, so they easily collected the knockdowns. From there, they found Lamine Yamal in the stretched space between the lines. Moreover, he was isolated in a one-on-one situation against Ruggeri. The former exploited the space in front of Atlético’s backline to cut the ball back to the players crashing the box from behind.

Alejandro Balde’s injury forced Hansi Flick to bring in Ronald Araujo and introduce him as a striker. Twenty-six minutes into the second half, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal played a short corner kick and picked out Cancelo behind in the right inside channel. The Portuguese noticed Araujo and Bernal overload Hancko and proceeded with an early cross toward the far post. Marc Bernal reduced the deficit to one goal.

With Rashford hugging the touchlines on the left and Dani Olmo operating on the left inside channel, Raphinha took position down the right half-space. Moreover, Marc Bernal spent time inside the block, anchoring Cardoso. In the meantime, Lamine Yamal pinned Ruggeri wide, allowing Raphinha to exploit the gap between the left back and left center-back. Behind the block, Pedri tended to slide a line-breaking pass to the Brazilian, whose cross found nobody.

Takeaways

Barcelona gave their all to turn the tables or to extend at least the game to extra time. However, they were capable of finding the net only three times against Simeone’s side, who landed on the pitch with one idea in mind, which was a relentless defense to protect the first-leg advantage. It wasn’t a surprise, as Atlético Madrid are used to parking the bus once they grab an edge over the opponent.

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