Western Super Cup: Atletico vs Athletic Bilbao
At 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on January 14, 2022, in the semi-finals of the Western Super League, the "Bed linen Legion" Atletico Will face Athletic Bilbao. Atletico was last season's La Liga champion, and as the defending champions, the team's performance this season has dropped significantly, after 20 rounds of league, it has achieved 9 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses, ranking 4th in the La Liga table with 33 points, although the team is in the Champions League zone, but the difference with Real Sociedad and Barca behind them is small, which shows that the team may be squeezed out of the European zone at any time. From the data point of view, Atletico scored 33 goals in 20 league rounds, conceded 24 goals, and the offensive and defensive performance was average, especially the technical and tactical characteristics of defense, which were gradually lost.
Atletico's recent state has picked up, has been unbeaten in 3 consecutive games, the Bedside Legion last round of league away against Huang Qian Villarreal, in the scene of poor performance, 40% of the possession rate, 7 shots on goal 5 shots on target, the number of shots reached only half of the opponent, although with Correa's goal to achieve the lead, but the good times were reversed by the opponent for a short time, but in the second half Condobia helped the team to score successfully, and finally the two sides shook hands and made peace 2-2.
Athletic Bilbao has been in the middle of the league in recent seasons, and the team's results this season are still the same, after 21 rounds of league, it has achieved 6 wins, 10 draws and 5 losses, ranking 9th in the league with 28 points, only 5 points away from the European zone, which shows that the team still has the opportunity to impact the European qualification this season. It is worth noting that Athletic Bilbao is currently the team with the most draws in La Liga and has the potential to become a "master of draws".
Athletic Bilbao has also performed well recently, it is also unbeaten in 3 games, the team played away to Alaves in the last round of the league, there is not much difference with the opponent in the scene, the possession rate is 58%, 10 shots on goal and 2 shots on target, the whole game is more glued, both sides failed to break the goal successfully, and finally shook hands with 0-0. From the statistical point of view, Athletic Bilbao scored 20 in the 21st league round, conceded 17 goals, and although the performance at the offensive end was not ideal, the defensive end was still remarkable, and it was currently the second smallest team in the league, only with Sevilla.
In terms of past encounters between the two teams, Atletico Madrid have played Athletic Bilbao in the past 10 times, achieving a record of 6 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, and the past performance is clearly dominant, but the first leg of the league is a 0-0 draw. In terms of recent conditions, both sides have remained unbeaten in 3 games recently, and the difference in form is not much.