Atletico have let Manchester City find the flaw! The counter-attack is not as efficient as before, what else can Simeone do?

On one side is the most controlling of all the teams in the Champions League, and on the other side is known for its tough style of play; so when the draw came out, it was widely believed that this matchup would be a big test for Manchester City. Manchester City has 73% of the possession, but only two shots on target, one goal small win, this is a game that makes people look sleepy and easy to feel tormented, but this is also a very tactical game.

Atletico's 550 dead-end in the first half made City extremely twisted

Objectively speaking, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in these two years have not been a high-grade team. Especially last season and the first half of the season, when Atletico pursued more ground conduction and more control, the competitiveness of this Atletico team in the strong collision competition has a very obvious decline. If City had played the same Atletico team two months ago, they would have had a chance to play big. But after the home defeat to Levante in mid-February, after seeing Simeone's position to sound the alarm and a meeting inside Atletico, their tactical play changed. When Atletico have won six consecutive league games and defeated Manchester United in the Champions League, Simeone will naturally carry over this effective system to the game against Manchester City.

All parties can think that Atletico will stick to it, and they can also think that Manchester City will suppress Atletico in the whole field, but the "degree of conservatism" shown by Atletico in the first half of the venue is still completely unexpected by many people. Compared with playing Manchester United, as long as there is a chance to counterattack and still have the courage to invest in troops, the idea after Atletico broke the ball in the first half is basically a return pass - open the big foot to find Felix. Even if the big foot drove up to grab the first point, that is, to see Felix and Griezmann play more than 2. Attack is always to play less and more, which dooms Atletico's attack to be difficult to convert into a real threat, they will inevitably be surrounded by Manchester City, so the key point of this game depends on how long Atletico can top it.

And manchester City's offensive thinking in this game is very clear - to make a fuss about the point of Rainierdo. If Lodi goes forward, Rainier Dora will attack the left side, and if Lodi is behind, strengthen the middle of the road, and use the constant pull to continue to attack Renaldo's point. In the opening stages, Renaldo was a bit embarrassed at this point, De Bruyne aimed at him, B seat against him, Mahrez against him, and Canceló on the back insert also aimed at him. Simeone also responded in time, and from 10 minutes later, Atletico basically formed a double-decker bus with a basic formation of 550.

Although this change led to a completely one-sided offensive and defensive drill throughout the first half, this operation also consolidated the defensive line, protected Rainierdo, and very well limited Manchester City's rib attack style of play, making Manchester City play extremely twisted in the first half.

Atletico "floated" to allow Manchester City to find a flaw

If Atletico were still as tough as they were in the first half, although the game would be extremely embarrassing, they would not necessarily lose. But perhaps because Atletico's defense in the first half was so successful that Simeone had more ideas, it became a turning point in the game.

In the opening stages of the second half, Atletico had two excellent counter-attack opportunities. One was a manchester city corner kick error, Griezmann's long run did not even form a shot on goal; the other was a 4-7, Llorente completed Atletico's only shot of the game. These two opportunities are not bad, especially the one when Griezmann ran long, there was no defender in front of him; if it was Griezmann who did not go to Barca, he might have singled out Edson. However, it may also be because the opportunity is too good that Simeone has a wrong judgment; he has replaced De Paul with a better ball in the 60 minutes, and Correa, Cunha, who has a stronger impact. However, while showing the "killing machine" through the on-the-spot adjustment, the overall defensive awareness of the newly replaced three people and the contribution they can give to the whole at the defensive end are obviously not as good as the replaced Koker, Griezmann, and Llorente.

While the defensive end was weakened, Atletico began to invest more troops on the offensive end, resulting in their defensive formation not being as compact as in the first half, which was a combination of "risk" and "opportunity". If it was the predatory Atletico in previous years, it was indeed worth the risk; but it is clear that the quality of the atletico's counterattack is now much worse than before, and while investing more troops without posing a substantial threat to the Manchester City goal, they gradually press forward, directly leading to the fact that the defensive formation is not so compact, Manchester City decisively strengthened the control of the middle; when Atletico's midfielder has been unable to take care of it, it can only be one of the centre-backs to the top, and the middle of the road in a short period of time is the loophole that Manchester City wants to grasp. Before City scored, Sterling was on the verge of being awarded a penalty after being brought down by Felipe and Renierdo on two diagonal moves.

Using strong control, forcing the opposing center-back to the top, quickly hitting the ball until the flaws exposed by the opponent for a while have begun to bear fruit, Guardiola decisively made an impromptu adjustment. He sent City's only Type 9 player, Jesus, to top the opposing centre-back; he sent Glalis to off the mentality of the opposing side, and Foden's appearance played a game-changing role. Unlike Mahrez, who almost cut in from the wing, Foden, who is also a left-footed player, has obviously changed a lot of changes in the ball; when he goes diagonally inside, not only giving up the assist route to Canselo, but also attracting the attention of the opposing defender in the middle, De Bruyne's quick forward insertion is still out of position by Rainierdo.

What else did Simeone do?

On the stage of the Champions League, many people are saying that Guardiola likes to live the whole life; but in fact, from 2020, Guardiola will often make some more stable tactical arrangements when playing away in the knockout stage of the Champions League. For Atletico, it is completely acceptable to lose one away leg in the first leg; but this score may put Simmons in a dilemma.

If they go back home to pull out to play against each other, Atletico not only does not have such strength capital; on the contrary, after the pressure is out, it will leave more room for Sterling, Mahrez, and Jesus to counterattack. And Atletico's centre-backs don't lose, but can they fight with Sterling to turn around and chase back? Since the attack is likely to be killed, it is reasonable to say that Atletico should continue to go back to the home field; and in previous years, Atletico Madrid did not do less than a small loss or draw in the first leg, and returned to the home court in the second leg to continue to play, stealing an operation to end the game with an away goal. It's just that Atletico's defense still has the hardness of the year, but the quality of Atletico's current counterattack is really not flattering, it seems that Simeone wants to use the 15-16 season to win The 25% possession rate of Guadalbaren, and the tactic of stealing one with two shots to get this Manchester City, it is extremely difficult to practice.

Of course, Simeone is not without a backhand, such as this wall-watching Suarez, and the greater advantage for Atletico is that after this game, Carrasco's three bans in the Champions League expire. How to lay out the attack on the basis of a solid defense will be the key to Atletico's second leg against Manchester City!