Real Madrid – Atlético Madrid: The Third Consecutive Stalemate In Madrid Derby (1-1)

Madrid’s Derby yielded the third consecutive 1-1 draw. The referee awarded a penalty to Atlético Madrid after Aurélien Tchouaméni stamped on Samuel Leno’s right foot. Kylian Mbappé gobbled up Giménez’s rebound to tie the score, unleashing his team after a subpar first half. Despite Real Madrid kicking off into full gear in the second part, the clash ended in a stalemate. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

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Still, sixteen games to go; therefore, there is no room for mistakes or points-dropping for the league title contenders. Especially, the current leaders, Real Madrid cannot afford to give away presents to rivals should they want to maintain their reign in Laliga. It is worth noting that since 2008, Los Blancos has failed to go back-to-back the last four times they have won Laliga’s trophy.

The last clash between the two major camps across Madrid saw Diego Simeone’s men snatching a late comeback from the edges of defeat. Atlético Madrid has been nothing more than a dent in Real Madrid’s previous campaign. Diego Simeone’s last visit to Santiago Bernabéu took one point from Carlo Ancelotti in injury time, and his crew warded off Real Madrid’s hopes of finishing the league competition with a defeatless repertoire.

Injuries hinder Real Madrid’s situation. The lack of personnel in the defense sets emergency alarms and threatens the team’s ability to compete, especially since the epic against Manchester City is approaching. Antonio Rüdiger picked up a muscle injury against Espanyol whereas David Alaba, the last one to return from a long-term ACL injury, will be absent due to an adductor damage.

Carlo Ancelotti put his trust in Raúl Asencio to partner with Aurélien Tchouaméni whilst Fran García and Lucas Vázquez played on the center-backs side. Dani Ceballos joined Federico Valverde in the pivot. A studded front four of Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior, and Kylian Mbappé constructed the attack.

Atlético Madrid started with Marcos Llorente, José María Giménez, Clément Lenglet and Javi Galán in defense. Giuliano Simeone and Samuel Lino acted as wingers next to the double pivots in Pablo Barrios and Rodrigo De Paul, whereas Julián Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann led the attacking line.

No way to penetrate Atlético Madrid’s block

The picture hardly changes when it comes to Atlético Madrid facing an opponent of the same or higher caliber. The tradition consisted of Diego Simeone instructing his players to retreat to relentlessly defend, minimize the gaps between the lines, and seize the opportunity to hurt the opposition on the break.

Atlético Madrid sat in a 4-4-2 low/medium block turned into a 5-3-2 or 6-2-2 shape depending on Real Madrid in possession. Initially, Giuliano Simeone dropped to the backline to control Fran Garcia’s movements, whilst Marcos Llorente kept his eyes on the inverted Vinícius Júnior. De Paul and Samuel Lino jumped from the second line to pounce on whoever came deeper next to Asencio and Lucas Vázquez on the right.

4th minute: Javi Galán and Samuel Lino jump onto Rodrygo and Lucas Vázquez, respectively. Samuel Lino extracts the loose ball from Vázquez to initiate the transition. Samuel Lino carries the ball until the edge of the box, waiting for Griezmann’s overlap. The former nudges the ball further away from the latter, giving away a chance to score.

High up the pitch, Real Madrid intended to press their rivals across Spain’s Capital in a 4-4-2 shape, driving the visitors sideways and trying to lock the ball side. However, Atlético Madrid effortlessly worked the ball out as the hosts’ press allowed them space to receive and pick out options. Real Madrid’s players’ lateness in the follow-up eased the visitors’ wide combinations to progress. De Paul was the orchestrator of Atlético Madrid’s play, as he tended to move wide behind the press, connect passes with Giuliano Simeone and the dropping Julián Alvarez. Also, De Paul was responsible for sliding those inside passes to set his compatriot Alvarez behind Real Madrid’s backline.

The white team tweaked his shape in possession. Lucas Vázquez tucked inside up the field, and Federico Valverde took place behind him. That forced Samuel Lino to add his body to the backline to prevent Real Madrid from creating a wide numerical superiority. Vinícius Júnior joined the crew on the right to give his team the balance in terms of number and thread through quick passes to penetrate the visitors’ block. However, Atlético Madrid read well their opponents’ combinations, cutting off every sliding ball.

Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior tended to drop off outside Atlético Madrid’s block. In fact, Diego Simeone narrowed his team’s lines vertically, limiting Real Madrid’s diagonal and vertical combinations, which led the pair to step out from the crowded areas. Nonetheless, the visitors remained compact, clipping Real Madrid’s wings and forcing them to circulate the ball sideways and rendering their possession passive.

From some midfield pinball, Federico Valverde pressed Pablo Barrios into an error and knocked the ball to Vinícius Júnior to race forward. Real Madrid went in a four versus four situation, but the Brazilian opted for shooting from distance with his weaker left foot, gliding the ball outside.

Atlético Madrid’s wide combinations

Antoine Griezmann had the license to stroll. As a result, Atlético Madrid overloaded the wide channels thanks to the Frenchman shifting across. On the right side, De Paul and Giuliano Simeone swapped positions as the latter pinned Fran Garcia inside, waiting for the former’s diagonal service. In the meantime, Antoine Griezmann moved toward Giuliano Simeone to execute a one-two combination; however, Ceballos tracking back warded off the home team’s intentions to penetrate the box.

26th minute: Real Madrid lays out in a 4-4-2 medium block. Antoine Griezmann shifts toward the right, generating a wide numerical superiority. Marcus LIorente attracting Jude Bellingham, opens up a passing lane for Griezmann to feed De Paul near the flanks. The latter picks out Simeone with an inside pass. Griezmann sneaks behind Ceballos to combine with Simeone. However, the former retreats to recover the ball.

The referee awarded Atlético Madrid a penalty after Aurélien Tchouaméni stepped on Samuel Lino’s right foot inside the box. Before this controversial event, Samuel Lino pinned Lucas Vázquez inside, leaving room for Javi Galán to drive forward down the wide channel and play the ball across toward his teammate, Lino.

31st minute: Atlético Madrid regains the ball after Javi Galán dispossessed Rodrygo. The visitors generate a wide numerical advantage to work the ball out and target Lucas Vázquez’ vacated side in transition.

The white team started panicking, rushing their actions and reactions. That drove the players into mistakes and gave balls away, allowing Rojiblancos the space to exploit in counterattacks. The forty minutes saw Vinícius Júnior miss the pass to Rodrygo at the edge of the box. De Paul collected the ball and carried it upward. After exchanging passes with Griezmann, he slid a diagonal through ball from the right-inside channel to Julián Alvarez on the left. Fortunately, Tchouaméni intercepted the Argentinian striker’s curved shot to deny the visitors a chance to double the score.

Back to basics

In the second part of the game, Vinícius Júnior returned to hold the width of the pitch on the left, with Fran Garcia indenting inside or covering behind the Brazilian. On the right, Rodrygo and Lucas Vázquez permuted positions. Five minutes in, the former burst past Samuel Lino and attacked the byline to play the cutback to Jude Bellingham, who appeared at the edge of the six-yard box. José María Giménez intercepted Bellingham’s tap-in; nonetheless, De Paul leaving Kylian Mbappé alone around the penalty spot enabled the latter to lash the rebound in.

Real Madrid refused to relent and kicked off in full gear after the goal. Conversely to the first half, Vinícius Júnior became efficient and productive, coming from the left to take on Atlético Madrid players or to drive outside to attack the byline and feed teammates with crosses. One minute after the draw, Vinícius Júnior raced down the inside channel, providing Fan Garcia a free option to pass. The Brazilian crashed to the box, whipping the ball across toward Bellingham, whose header hit the woodwork.

Vinícius Júnior rose to the occasion, acting as the sheer leader of Real Madrid insurrection and wreaking havoc against Marcus LIorente on the left side. Nonetheless, the home team’s scattered lines whilst they pressed high up the pitch, were a hindrance that could cost Real Madrid a lot.

60th minute: Atlético Madrid progression. Rodrygo not tracking back Giménez and Bellingham focusing only on the ball allows Simeone to get out from the wide impasse and pick out the free, Giménez. Valverde opts for covering zonally without shifting toward Samuel Lino, who receives in space and feeds Griezmann. Real Madrid’s retreat supplies De Paul with space in the middle of the park to collect the ball and surge forward. A combination of the compatriots De Paul, Alvarez, and Simeone sets the latter face-to-face versus Courtois. However, he lets the ball move away into the goalkeeper’s hand.

Diego Simeone took his son off and brought in Koke. Javi Galán made way for Reinildo Mandava and Nahuel Molina replaced Samuel Lino. It didn’t matter for Vinícius Júnior, who covered the left-wide channel as he continued to run behind the left back to collect Dani Ceballos’ line-breaking pass. Even the center-back, Giménez, who was close to the ball, didn’t prevent Vinícius Júnior from cutting it back to Jude Bellingham, who whipped one into Koke’s back from the edge of the box.

Real Madrid appeared more energetic as time elapsed. Gaps within the visitors allowed the hosts to perform diagonal combinations to creep into Atlético Madrid’s box. Jude Bellingham’s movement between the lines pulled Rojiblancos’ defenders out of their positions and vacated space for players coming from behind to exploit.

 67th minute: Lucas Vázquez passes the ball to Ceballos and runs around Griezmann toward the space vacated by Bellingham coming short between the lines and dragging Reinildo with him. A quick ball combination occurs between the trio, releasing Vázquez behind the defense. Jan Oblak clears Real Madrid’s left back ball outside.

The home team looked to take advantage of the front players’ ability to accelerate in a short space of time to overrun Atlético Madrid’s center-backs. Therefore, gliding line-breaking passes seemed an optimal alternative to progress. The seventy minutes saw Lucas Vázquez prod one onto Kylian Mbappé’s feet down the right inside channel. The French striker dribbled past his fellow countryman, Clément Lenglet, and drifted inside until he faced the middle of the net at the edge of the box. Vinícius Júnior was on Mbappé’s left side, screaming for service, as he would have faced the goalkeeper in one-versus-one had Mbappé not chosen to shoot from distance.

Real Madrid kept mining their way, finding gates within and behind the opponents’ block, be it through Rodrygo’s diagonal run to receive Vázquez inside pass or through Vinícius Júnior infiltrating down the channel outpacing the opposite left back and center-back to blast the ball into Oblak’s hands.

Luka Modrić and Eduardo Camavinga came on for Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vázquez. Alexander Sørloth and Ángel Correa replaced Julián Alvarez and Rodrigo De Paul. Vinícius Júnior kept spreading his magic on the left side, combining with Jude Bellingham, taking on whoever dared to face him in one-versus-one situations and feeding his teammates with cutbacks. Nevertheless, Real Madrid didn’t capitalize on these advantageous moments to turn the table ahead.

Atlético Madrid had the opportunity to punish Real Madrid for missing their chances through Marcus Llorente who worked on underlapping Ángel Correa and crashing the box, looking to square the ball to Sørloth and Griezmann near the back post. But, none of them has been able to reach the ball.

As aforementioned, Real Madrid’s high press completely was disconnected and disjointed, allowing Atlético Madrid spaces down the central corridor to progress through the thirds.

85th minute: Real Madrid presses high up the pitch without the defense backing up the press. Moreover, Vinícius Júnior, leaning toward the left whilst jumping onto Molina, opens up the diagonal access to Koke. Real Madrid’s backline not stepping up leads to Camavinga being outnumbered in the middle of the park. As a result, Ángel Correa finds joy in carrying the ball forward, waiting for LIorente’s appearance. Nonetheless, the visitors’ sequence goes down the drain due to a disconnection between the latter and Griezmann. 

The home side didn’t take advantage of Jude Bellingham’s lateral movements between the lines to evacuate the space for Federico Valverde, who came from behind carrying the ball and looking to slide a through ball to Kylian Mbappé. Despite all Real Madrid’s efforts to add the second goal, all their attacks and shots were wiped out by Jan Oblak, who rose to the occasion.

Takeaways

Real Madrid started the clash looking depleted in and out of possession. Carlo Ancelotti’s men underperformed, displaying a subpar show in the first half, unable to penetrate Atlético Madrid’s compact unit. In the second part of the game, the white team improved because Vinícius Júnior shifted wide and showed his true form when he came from the wing or in free spaces in isolated situations. Not only did Vinícius Júnior boost the level of the team, but also Jude Bellingham added an extra threat when he crashed the box and his off-ball movements served well for his teammates to unlock holes within Atlético Madrid’s block.

Out of possession, the hosts kept delivering and accumulating below-average defensive statistics. According to Markstats, Atlético Madrid completed 88.7% of their buildup sequences, seamlessly progressing through and around and generating overloads across the pitch to arrive at the final third. Furthermore, it is worth noting that Real Madrid was vulnerable in defensive transitions due to players not tracking back and the absence of an effective rest defense.

The only winner in Madrid’s derby is Barcelona, Real Madrid’s archenemy. The Catalans will reduce the difference to one point with Atlético Madrid and two with Real Madrid had they win their match against Sevilla.

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