Real Madrid 2-0 Atletico Madrid (Casemiro, Carvajal). Here is our quick reaction. Still to come: player ratings, post-game podcasts, post-game quotes, and much more analysis.
Tonight at the Alfredo di Stefano, Atlético de Madrid fell behind with a goal from the first team in this league campaign.
Atlético have been impenetrable this season and, one could argue, for almost a decade. This season, as we have extensively described here at Madrid Management, of all places, they have also improved offensively. Tonight, none of that offense was apparent, and they conceded the same number of goals as the entire season – two.
That’s the simplified story, the shortened headline. The tactical development is a little deeper. Atlético was not bad defensively, but Real Madrid did things well. They counterattacked, on the one hand, which made it very difficult for Simeone’s men to build from behind, and allowed Real to move Atleti’s block a bit. Toni Kroos, flawless with his distribution, helped the ball progress, and his quick changes were designed to move around the packed flanks of Atleti, where both Vázquez and Vinicius Jr struggled to find space.
In reality, the back pressure was more of a way to limit Atlético’s preparation than a source of opportunity creation. In the first half, Atlético was limited to zero key passes, zero shots. Joao Félix, who was wandering the field, was subdued. Atleti had completed only 66% of their passes after 20 minutes. Ferland Mendy (who had problems with the ball, but was otherwise fine) neutralized Marcos Llorente on the wing. Luis Suárez was a ghost.
Real Madrid’s first goal came from a corner, where Savic misinterpreted the flight of the ball and Casemiro beat Herrera:
Diego Simeone made three substitutions at halftime, featuring Correa, Lodi and Lemar. Finally, Saúl replaced Joao Félix. It wasn’t immediately apparent, but Lemar gave Atlético some juice but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities he had at the end. Saul offered to shoot at long range.
In the end, Real Madrid was not very threatened, and a bolt from Dani Carvajal made the second half relatively comfortable:
For the second game in a row, Real Madrid took three points and both performances were impressive. Even defining the season. We’ll break this down in much more detail in the next few hours. Tonight’s post-game podcast is free.
