tiki_taka
9 years ago
now with an explicative video of 2014, nothing changed since.
In 2014, they were facing the final just after an all-or-nothing title showdown with Barcelona, which they won, of course, and simply had no energy for extra time after conceding the late goal against Real. In addition, there were injuries and a much weaker bench than they currently have.
This season, there are no excuses for Simeone and Co. Both teams have had ample time to recover, to plan and to practice. The final will be a momentous occasion and the Spanish game will continue its dominance of European football regardless of who wins.
Simeone has proved himself as one of the game's finest managers several times over the last few seasons, though, and he will want this match to be a culmination—and justification—of his means and beliefs up to this point.
Backing David Vs Golliath no matter how David can be judged dirty, he remains David and should use any way to beat the giant Golliath, people are too harsh on Atleti. ( Eleminated Barça twice in CL but i still think they are defensive genious)
Last week, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport devoted a full five pages to a single issue -- on the cover, Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone was shown in the classic Che Guevara pose. The issue they pondered was whether Simeone's style and brand of football, called "Cholismo" after his nickname, had replaced "tiki-taka" as the flavor of the month.
When you knock out Barcelona and Bayern Munich and find yourself level on points at the top of La Liga, it may seem fair to ask whether your style of play is the next big thing. Particularly when, season after season, you find yourself without key players -- Arda Turan, Joao Miranda, Mario Mandzukic last summer; David Villa, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis the year before.
Football is cyclical and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, which means folks will copy success. Folks have been emulating and incorporating tactical concepts that have succeeded for other teams for the past hundred years. Today, with blanket coverage and continuous cross-pollination, this is especially true. That's why there are fewer differences between the top leagues in terms of style of play than there were even just 20 years ago.
You saw it with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona itself. The team's techniques of high pressing and possession (neither was entirely new, though the way they were applied simultaneously was) were emulated to varying degrees across Europe, particularly among top teams. But given the success of Atletico -- and, even though it's a wholly different kettle of fish, Leicester in the Premier League -- are we now going to see a shift away from possession and pressing to not wanting the ball, playing quick counters and sitting deep?
Will "Cholismo" replace "Guardiolismo"?
Probably not, at least as far as top clubs are concerned. For a start, it's reductive and wrong to define "Cholismo" (and Atletico) as merely defensive barricades, set pieces, counterattacks and hanging on for dear life. You get that when you see them play Barcelona or Bayern, teams with much better players who emphasize possession. But Atleti spend most of the year playing clubs who are far worse in terms of technical ability than they are.
It's Spain, so you'll get some clubs like Rayo Vallecano with Paco Jemez or Celta with Eduardo Berizzo who will come out and attack better opponents. Yet teams like Granada or Levante won't stream forward and leave themselves exposed to the counter. That means Atleti will have a lot more of the ball, and they need to take the initiative. And to do it successfully, which they've done, you need something more than the counter and a war of attrition. You need a Plan B and players who can break down opponents, and Atleti have that with the likes of Saul, Koke, Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco.
Copying Atletico, therefore, wouldn't just involve trying to do what they did in the Champions League, but rather what they do against lesser teams, when in some ways Atletico go all Jekyll and Hyde. And that's not easy to do, which is part of what makes Simeone's achievements so remarkable.
There are other reasons that it's hard to see this sparking a trend. They're the same reasons that Italian football -- without getting into the old cliches of catenaccio -- moved away from a similar approach in the 1990s. Part of it was the way the game has changed. Attacking players are offered far more protection than they were in the past: you simply can't defend the way you once did. The game is now funded by its ability to deliver sports entertainment, and that defense-minded brand of football is out of step with the times.
Part of the transition away from a defensive approach was that, for a number of reasons, Italian football boasted outstanding attacking individuals -- both homegrown and imported -- who did not necessarily need to be part of a coherent attack-minded setup to be productive. The old joke about seven guys defending and three guys attacking had plenty of truth to it. When your three attackers were Diego Maradona, Bruno Giordano and Careca, or Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli and Attilio Lombardo, you could get away with it.
The other key problem is that football is ultimately about trade-offs. And the formula is rather simple: if you are good at attacking and concede a goal, you can continue doing what you're good at (attacking) and catch up. And if you're good at attacking and you score, you can keep attacking and add to your margin.
Now flip it around. Let's say you're good at defending and score. Great! You will continue defending, which you're good at. But you won't necessarily be adding to your margin, which means that you can fall victim to a refereeing error, an individual mistake or a moment of brilliance from the opposition.
The real problem, though comes if you're a defensive team and you concede. At that stage, you need to take the initiative and attack, which won't be your forte. In a low-scoring sport, so if you don't maximize your opportunities to score, you can pay a hefty price.
Obviously, if you're good at counterattacking, taking the lead gives you an enormous edge. You saw it with Atletico in the first leg, when Saul's early moment of individual genius gave them the lead. The problem with such goals is that you don't know when -- or if -- they're going to come. Just as you don't know when -- or if -- someone will make a mistake, whether that someone is the opposition or the referee.
In other words, it's a gamble.
This doesn't mean that Simeone should have taken a different approach. On the contrary, he kept it tight and waited for something to happen, and chance and probability decreed that this positive "something" happened early. Had he gone toe-to-toe and tried to outplay Bayern or Barcelona, who simply have better players, his chances of winning would likely have dropped.
The interesting question as I see it is whether Simeone would have played this way if he had been the one at the helm of Bayern or Barcelona. I'm pretty sure he would not. "I don't know what I'll be as a manager," he told me several years ago, when he had just retired and was studying furiously for a coaching career. "But I'm increasingly convinced of two things: you will be more comfortable if your team reflects your personality, and you need to work with what you have and exploit the moment and the situation, masking your weaknesses and emphasizing your strengths."
Sure, if you look at the broader definition of "Cholismo," there's plenty to be copied and admired in Atletico Madrid: the players' tremendous application and execution, their intensity, and the obvious connection they have with their fans, which creates a virtuous cycle. Much of that is down to Simeone, who imbues his team with spirit, positivity and self-belief. But every coach tries to do that. It's not rocket science, it's just that Simeone does it better than most. And he has the tools to do it.
If, however, you look at a narrower definition and take "Cholismo" to be defensive organization that is just about aggression, a safety-first mentality and nicking goals on the counter and set pieces (and, like I said above, there is much more to Atletico than that), you're off base if you think this is a harbinger of some kind of tactical revolution, at least for the biggest, best-resourced clubs.
Simply put, if you're one of the big boys, you're going to have a lot of the ball against most opponents. And you had better have a clear idea of what to do with it.
Corriello Dello sport : Italian newspaper
Now VS Madrid the game plan :
Defensive structure
It's no secret that Atletico's biggest strength lies in their ability to defend deep, frustrate teams and repel danger from all quarters: high balls, set pieces, through balls and trying to run behind the back four.
Jan Oblak is a proactive goalkeeper who will happily come from his six-yard box to dominate his area, the central defence are among the best aerially and both full-backs are, first and foremost, defensively determined as well as able to contribute in the opposite direction.
In addition to the individual parts of the defence being of high quality and consistency, the midfield plays a key role.
Whether in a flat four or tilting across to a five-man line, with one of the strikers dropping wide, Atletico will look to keep a small space between the defensive and middle lines, forcing Real Madrid to play sideways, the width of the pitch, back and forth, without really penetrating into dangerous areas.
Atletico are happy to back themselves to remain in shape, not too concerned with conceding possession in the middle third, and with Real's main avenue of attack coming from the wide forwards cutting infield from the channels, Atleti's wide midfielders will double up with the full-backs and force Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo into crowded cul-de-sacs.
It's relentless, determined and precise work from a defensive sense and, regardless of the scoreline, Atletico will perform these pivoting actions ceaselessly for spells of 15 or 20 minutes at a time if necessary.
Aggression and speed
They are not, contrary to popular belief, all about the defence. In attack, Simeone has gifted players at his disposal and makes good use of them whenever possible, within the overall team structure.
Antoine Griezmann will be free to roam in spaces off the attacking line, Fernando Torres will work the channels, and Koke and Saul Niguez will both surge forward from deep in possession, linking play and looking to make up the numbers in the box.
This support from the second line is critical for Atleti, both in build-up and in terms of finishing chances. The chemistry between Koke and Torres in particular has been exceptional in the past three months, with the striker enjoying his best form since his Liverpool days in the process, and Saul is often the one who will make darting runs to link up with the marauding full-backs to get behind opposing full-backs.
Marcelo and Dani Carvajal are the most likely starters for Real at full-back, and while they are offensively among the best in world football, there's little doubt that they leave plenty of room in behind them and expose their central defenders to an extent.
Saul and Juanfran down the right; Koke and Filipe Luis down the left; small triangles of play can see Atleti combine and exploit those gaps behind Real's back line and create cut-back opportunities for Griezmann and Torres.
Add in the speed at which three or four can counter-attack for Atletico, at times overwhelming and overloading opponents on the break, and it's clear that they have the tools to damage Real at the other end.
Mentality
Perhaps the overriding theme of Atletico heading into the final is the club-wide approach of we have to win this game.
It's an ongoing mentality at the club, one that Simeone demands in every match regardless of playing against Real or Rayo Vallecano, but it goes double for this game in particular.
Godin has already spoken to UEFA (h/t Marca) about the memories from losing to Real in the final two years ago: "It is hard to forget that night in Lisbon. We had a great season and we were disappointed. This final is going to be very hard fought and physical. It is a dream for me, the team and the fans to lift this title."
Club president Enrique Cerezo echoed those sentiments, per Marca, and left everybody listening in no doubt as to how far his side would go: "We have to win on Saturday. Not winning would be a huge disappointment. We have to win by fair means or foul—we just have to win."
At times, Atletico have been criticised for an aggressive approach to games, but this mentality has taken them far. It is a war of attrition, a fierce battle and an absolute focus on doing whatever it takes to get the result.
In-game emphasis
If the match follows the pattern of Atletico's usual big fixtures, the team in red and white will start fast.
Despite having the reputation of a defensive or counter-attacking team from deep, they love to press extremely high and try to dominate territory rather than possession—the front two begin the closing down, and the rest follow in suit.
It can yield early chances, put the opposition on the back foot and force them into mistakes, disrupting the rhythm of possession-based teams or those who do not work as hard as Atletico do to recover the ball.
After an initial 15 or 20 minutes of this high-intensity approach, Atletico will naturally begin to sit back into shape, aware they cannot maintain that level of defending high for the entire match.
Real may then start to dominate possession, but as noted, that's part of Atletico's own game plan. It's their own brand of control, and they will look to counter into the channels at speed when the ball is won and Real Madrid's full-backs are high up the field.
Simeone will switch from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3, and back if needed, and of course, he will have the luxury of bringing on effective players from the bench to reshape the game, just as he did against Bayern Munich.
Bench
Atletico's bench could almost be named now.
Miguel Angel Moya will be the substitute goalkeeper, while Angel Correa, Luciano Vietto, Tiago and one central defender will also be named—either Jose Gimenez or Stefan Savic, with the other a starter.
For the sixth place, it's either Yannick Carrasco or Augusto Fernandez, depending on whether Simeone opts for a rock-solid midfield line or more pace to start the match with, then it's a toss-up between Jesus Gamez, Thomas Partey or Matias Kranevitter for the last bench spot, with the smart money going on Thomas.
That gives Simeone at least three offensive options to change the game in his favour, with Tiago recovered from a broken leg now and Thomas being a superb surging option late in the game, both to break lines if Atletico are trailing and to push the team upfield and run down the clock if they are winning.
Correa is a match-winner on his day, and Carrasco is a massive tactical option to press high and be an outlet on the counter, playing centre-forward or from the wing.
The squad is complete, now Atleti just need to win one more time to prove it.