Match date: 9 April 2014

The last leg of the tie saw both teams score and both teams have an important player have to leave the field due to injury. For Atletico, the loss of Diego Costa was viewed as much more damaging to the club’s ambitions of a semi-final appearance than the loss of Gerard Pique for Barcelona.

With the absence of Diego Costa, Simeone opted to start Adrian up front with David Villa, while Raul Garcia played on the right with Arda Turan out injured.

Tata Martino chose the same starting XI as the previous tie with the exception of Pique who was replaced by Bartra.

Atletico’s Opening Ten Minutes

Atletico could have killed off the tie completely in the opening minutes of the match. Barcelona needed to score a goal to go through, Atletico could have settled for a 0-0 and gone through on the away goals rule, but as evidenced in the opening ten minutes of the match, Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid wanted to make a statement and crush the hopes of the Barcelona players and supporters quickly. Atletico’s pressing was good as ever, getting numbers forward, putting the Barcelona centre backs, and in particular Busquets and Xavi, under tremendous pressure. Gabi’s pressing led the way for the rest of the team. His tackle on Busquets led to the first chance that David Villa smashed against the post. Below you can see him getting a tackle in soon after Atletico scored.

Barcelona seemed unprepared for Atletico’s pressing, despite the Madrid side becoming more and more well known for their intensity and athleticism when their opponent’s have the ball. The Barcelona players were slow in possession and looked uncomposed with the ball at their feet, feeling the pressure of needing a goal, not conceding one, and the immediate pressure of Atletico’s press, which paid off. Koke scored in the 5th minute of play, but Atletico could have had two more, with Adrian and David Villa firing off the woodwork and a moment where Pinto looked certain to be tackled by David Villa which would have lead to a goal as well. The goal and the chances all came because of the pressure that Atletico put on Barcelona with their pressing. Below, you can see that in that opening 10 minute spell, Atletico completed four successful tackles in Barcelona’s half and another three right near the halfway line, while they got six shots off.

After the initial ten minutes, Barcelona were able to possess the ball and Atletico backed off, but they again hit the woodwork in the 19th minute, again through David Villa.

Barcelona’s Response, Atletico Drop Deep

Barcelona were able to assert themselves a bit, getting possession of the ball and making their way up the field as Atletico began to back off slightly. In the 13th minute, Messi had a free header right around the penalty area that he headed just wide of post, but it was an opportunity that failed to test Courtois and set the tone of the match in terms of Barcelona’s best opportunities. He had another chance from a Neymar cross that he also hit wide of the post. In the second half, Xavi had a free header inside the six yard box that he missed and Neymar had a header that went just wide of the post. To sum it up, Barcelona’s chances were limited as Atletico dropped deep and stayed compact to defend their lead.

Throughout the season, Atletico have been hard to break down, as they’ve conceded the least amount of goals in La Liga and, amongst all the teams in the group stages and still in the Champions League, have conceded the fewest with five. Once the second half came, Atletico dropped into a compact 4-4-2. While they invited pressure, they were content with the ball being played in front of them as Barcelona had only one really good chance in behind when Neymar was found by Xavi only for Courtois to save. By the end of the match, Barcelona were essentially playing a 2-2-6. Atletico stuck to the philosophies that have helped them be successful this year; they forced play into the wide areas and would either overload the ball carrier and win the ball back or wait for the ball to be moved back to the middle where they would intercept.

When Atletico did win the ball back, they had an out ball to Raul Garcia, who was matched up against Jordi Alba, which allowed the Atletico man to win just about every aerial dual that he was faced with. Garcia has largely been used as a support striker throughout the year, but for the purposes of an out ball, especially when Barcelona looked to press, Garcia provided the target man qualities and outlet that Atletico usually look to Diego Costa for. He also worked hard when Atletico weren’t in possession of the ball, as did the rest of the team, to keep Jordi Alba from having an influence on the left side of Barcelona’s attack.

Changes

Martino’s first change was Alexis Sanchez for Fabregas. This allowed Messi to play through the middle with more consistently; with Fabregas on the field, Messi was forced to play more on the right, with Fabregas acting as a false 9. Overall, Sanchez’s influence was very limited.

The second change for Barcelona was Pedro on for Iniesta, which made Barcelona’s forward line Neymar, Pedro, and Sanchez, with Messi dropping a little deeper to act as a third central midfielder, in front of Xavi and Busquets. Pedro’s influence, like Sanchez’s, was unrecognisable.

Conclusion

The two Spanish sides had played out four draws up until this match, where Atletico were finally able to get a winner and win the tie. Last year’s Champions League heroes were Dortmund, who play a similar brand of high intensity football as Atletico, and they made it to the final, so good things could come for Atletico.

Many will say that Barcelona are in need of an overhaul in their style of play, but this marks the first time in seven years that they aren’t one of the four teams in the Champions League semi-final and while last year they were certainly lucky to make it to that stage, many seem to quickly forget the exorbitant amount of success that Barcelona had during their Guardiola years and how the expectations, because of that success, is significantly higher than any other club.