Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
Introduction: Nobody questions that Barca-Atleti is one of the most highly anticipated game each season these days. Ever since Atletico secured their La Liga title at the Camp Nou, these matches have entertained everybody. Who can resist the temptation of watching the best player of all time, in maybe one of the best teams of all time, against perhaps the best coached team on the planet?
Average Positioning
There were no real surprises when it comes to how the two teams lined up. Saul drifted in a lot from his right wing birth, while Carrasco did similar. Meanwhile Messi and Suarez operated very close to one another with Suarez and Neymar moving very fluidly. Similar to Griezmann and Saul for Atletico.
Compactness and Pressing
Atletico would clearly be seen in there 442 shape when the ball was positioned centrally. Upon the pass to Sergi Roberto, the most obvious one, Atletico players spring forward and trap Roberto and hassle him to try and regain the ball. This is not something new and Atletico are extremely effective at pressing when they choose too, but also staying tight and compact as well.
Coverage System
When the ball reached Neymar in a wide position, Juanfran would duly leave his central position and move out wide to meet him. Saul meanwhile would move into a position to cover the space and close the gap between Juanfran and Savic. Thus Atletico's last chain is rarely ever undermanned and it is extremely difficult to find gaps in it.
Barcelona Counterpressing and Atletico's short and quick combinations
When Atletico regained possession, Barcelona would look to counter-press immediately, but Atletico were very good at exploiting this. As seen above, Atletico would form lots of connections between each other for short quick exchanges to evade Barcelona's pressing. Players like Filipe Luis, who possesses incredible dribbling ability, Koke who's short passing is phenomenal, and Carrasco who has a bit more speed and power, allowed Atletico to evade pressure and then find spaces to exploit further up the pitch. Both Griezmann and Gameiro had a couple of opportunities to run at an exposed Barcelona defence but they were thwarted on most occasions.
Barcelona Goal-Kicks
Atletico pressured Barcelona very aggressively when they took their short goal-kicks, but Ter Stegen's calming presence on the ball and the playing ability of Mascherano, Busquets and Pique meant that they struggled to gain much joy from their pressing ventures and were even left exposed on a couple of occasions as their pressing was bypassed.
Conclusion: Barcelona scored of a short corner which was taken quickly by Iniesta. In the second half, Barcelona's Busquets and Messi ended up going off injured, Simeone quickly reacted by bringing on fresh attackers in the form of Torres and Correa to try and find an equaliser. Correa found himself with space in the box after a pass from Torres and was able to equalise quickly after his arrival. After the equaliser Atletico eased off a little bit where many would have hoped for them to push on in search of a winner. At the end of the day it was a well fought game, perhaps edged by Barcelona. Atletico can be happy with their point and both teams will look to kick on in pursuance of the title.