Valencia – Atlético Madrid: Simeone’s Side Scrapes Three Points Despite Lifeless Performance (0-1)

As expected, the match between sides coached by Gennaro Gattuso and Diego Simeone ended up being a physical, intense battle with a fair bit of controversy. Despite Gattuso’s Valencia executing a solid press and structured buildup, they could not break down Atlético Madrid’s final line of defense, and they were not able to beat Atlético Madrid’s single goal.
Tactical analysis and match report by Charlie Tuley.

Though it has been a summer of change for Valencia, it is arguable that the team has not seen any improvement. With José Bordalás forced out of the club, former Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso was brought in to spearhead Valencia’s attempt at returning to the summit of LaLiga.

Along with the change in management, Valencia’s ownership elected to bring in a few new signings, along with selling the team’s biggest star in Gonçalo Guedes. Valencia have turned a profit in the transfer window due to the fee that Guedes incurred, but that also is due to the minimal signings that Gattuso has been limited to. The club signed former loanee Hugo Duro permanently from Getafe, as well André Almeida from Vitória Guimarães and a host of young talented players on loan. Overall, it does not feel that the team will be better off than they were last season, and the team’s two results this season (a 1-0 win over Girona and a 0-1 loss to Athletic Club) reflect this.

As has been the case for all of Valencia’s matches so far this season, Gattuso decided to field a traditional 4-3-3 formation for the match against Atlético Madrid. Giorgio Mamardashvili started the . . .