How Real Madrid Squeezed Past Simeone’s Rigid Atletico Madrid Side | OneFootball

Real Madrid managed to squeeze past Atletico Madrid, beating them on penalties after going the distance, losing the game 1-0 after 120 minutes at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, making it 2-2 on aggregate over the two legs.

This game was littered with huge decisions and moments, with Vinicius Junior missing a penalty that could’ve given Real the aggregate lead in the 70th minute. Then Julian Alvarez scored from the spot during the shoot-out only to see it disallowed for a double contact on the ball, which led to Real Madrid winning the tie.

But despite all of these big moments, Diego Simeone’s side deserves the utmost credit for their defensive display, limiting Carlo Ancelotti’s side to just ten shots in the match, one “big chance” created and just 1.15 xG (most of which came from the penalty).

In the first half Real Madrid managed to generate just 0.08 xG from three shots in total. In the second half they earned the penalty, leading to their 0.91 xG in that half but that still only came from three shots taken.

In extra time Real Madrid only managed to generate a further 0.15 xG from four shots (two in each half of extra time). So how exactly did Atletico Madrid keep Ancelotti’s side at bay for 120 minutes of play?

Atletico Madrid had only 38% possession throughout the game, indicating they came in with a clear plan to make it difficult for Real Madrid and counter-attack when possible.

Often sitting in a compact 4-4-2 midblock, Atletico Madrid showed their defensive nouse to keep Real Madrid in front of them at all times, shuffling from side to side and at times shifting into a temporary 4-3-3 shape, with one of the wide men applying pressure on the ball to force Ancelotti’s side backwards.

Within their 4-4-2 shape, Atletico Madrid were willing to split their centre-forwards (Griezmann and Alvarez) quite wide, applying more of their focus to stopping diagonal progression from wide areas into the centre of their block.

When looking at the passing maps of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, you can start to see the effectiveness of Simeone’s approach, forcing the Real Madrid wide players to either pass backwards or switch play, cutting off all their access into zone 14 and the half spaces.

Conor Gallagher and Giuliano Simeone played pivotal roles in this defensive strategy, timing their runs to apply pressure and double up on the Real Madrid wide players. Their focus was on blocking the inside diagonal pass and forcing play backward.

This is further backed up by the defensive actions completed by both wide men for Atletico, with Conor Gallagher winning three of his seven ground duels, making one tackle and making three interceptions. Whilst Simeone won three of his five ground duels, making two tackles.

Intensity was key throughout the match for Diego Simeone’s side, and when you take away the penalty in the second half, Real Madrid were limited to scraps, which was all down to the application of the defensive game plan.