Match date: 14 April 2015

A repeat of last year’s final, albeit in the quarterfinals of this year’s competition. So far this season, Atletico Madrid have gotten the results against their city rival, having won six  of the last meetings between the two sides. Real Madrid’s season has had it’s ups and downs, but the return to fitness of Luka Modric has seen the La Decima winners put in better performances.

Diego Simeone named what has been his strongest line up over the last few weeks which includes Jan Oblak in goal. Mandzukic and Griezmann started up top in Simeone’s preferred 4-4-2.

Carlo Ancelotti was able to start both Luka Modric and James Rodriguez in his midfield three alongside Toni Kroos with Varane partnering Sergio Ramos at the back over Pepe in a 4-3-3.

Real Madrid’s Dominance

The away side started the much better of the two sides and Jan Oblak kept Atletico Madrid in the side with a string of good saves in the first half, including denying Gareth Bale on a 1v1 early on the first half. Much of Real Madrid’s best play came down the right side of their attack, where Dani Carvajal was almost always an unmarked outlet for the away side. There were a few reasons for this. The first being that Koke, who was on the left for Atletico Madrid found himself very narrow, as Simeone likes his midfield to play. The other reason was the movement of Ronaldo. The Balon d’Or winner found himself drifting over to the right side of Real Madrid’s attack meaning that Siqueira and Koke were out numbered 3 to 2 at times. Unfortunately for Real Madrid, their dominance and play down the right saw a lot of  crosses being played into the Atletico Madrid penalty area that the likes of Benzema, Ronaldo, and Bale were unable to get on the end of with credit due to Godin, Miranda, and Oblak.

Atletico Madrid struggled to keep hold on the ball. Griezmann was perhaps the brightest play for the home side in the first half, but while Mandzukic offered Atletico a chance to hit the ball long, the Croatian struggled against Sergio Ramos and Varane in the air, which made the option of playing it long somewhat wasteful. The Atletico Madrid midfield also struggled to get a hold on the game. Koke and Turan were hesitant to get too narrow or overload one side as they were afraid of the space that they would leave open to Carvajal and Marcelo on a potential counter attack. Without Koke and Turan inside, Gabi and Mario Suarez struggled to cope with being out numbered in midfield as Modric, James, and Kroos worked well winning the ball back before Atletico Madrid had a chance to be dangerous and at times in Atletico’s half of the field.

Atletico Grow into the Game

Indebted to Oblak’s first half saves, Atletico weathered Real Madrid’s first half dominance and went into half time at 0-0. Simeone made a few changes to his side’s play at half time, with Turan getting on the ball and he and Koke overloading one side of the pitch much more often and his side eliminating the space between the lines in a low to mid block when Real Madrid had the ball.

Much of Atletico’s best play in the second half came when Turan was able to get on the ball and moved with more freedom. This allowed the Turk to combine well with Koke and create an overload on one side of the pitch, something which brought them huge success last year en route to the final. Turan’s dribbling was a big influence for his side, especially when he drifted by the Real Madrid defenders and almost set a goal up for Koke only for Carvajal to intercept and awkwardly allow Casillas to clear. The combination of Turan and Koke was stifled a bit of this freedom in the first half, but Atletico moved further up the pitch as a team, putting more pressure on Real Madrid and forcing the likes of Marcelo and Carvajal back, who’s positioning in the first half meant that Koke and Turan had to stay on their respective sides so that Atletico Madrid weren’t left too exposed in the wide areas.

Another big reason for Atletico’s improved second half was their defensive shape and ability to close the space between the lines. Benzema, in particular, as well as James and Modric were finding spaces far too easily from an Atletico Madrid perspective in the first half, but Simeone made sure to close the middle of the field up in the second half and it forced Real Madrid to play the ball across the back four, with Kroos, Modric, and James all relatively close to the back four as well. The passing lanes to Benzema were closed by Suarez and Gabi. Benzema’s movement was good throughout, but in the second half, his movement and Real Madrid’s attacks were only potent when they were able to attack with pace. When Atletico Madrid were able to get into their defensive shape, Real Madrid seemed to run out of ideas. Below is a good example of Atletico’s shape and how it hindered Modric, James, and Benzema.

With their defensive shape defined and disciplined, it allowed Atletico Madrid to get more of the ball in the second half and thus allowed them to create more opportunities, and as mentioned above, these notably came through Turan, in particular, and Koke. It was not until Simeone made his team return to their compact and narrow principles that Atletico showed their abilities going forward.

Godin & Varane

All four centre backs on the night had good games, but Godin and Varane were arguably the better of their respective pairings. Godin misread one ball over the top that allowed Bale in on a 1v1 against Oblak, but the Slovenian saved well to deny the Welshman. Godin made some excellent interceptions throughout the match, however, that stopped Real Madrid counter attacks and aside from that one, almost crucial, error, his timing was very good.

On the other side, Ramos had a good game, but Varane stood tall in all his challenges and dealt with Mandzukic really well in the air while Ramos was less successful against the Croatian. Varane was good on the ball and found passes forward even when Atletico Madrid were trying to suffocate the space in the middle of the field and created an excellent chance for Benzema after a good run down the right side of the field.

Changes

Ancelotti made the first change of the game and, if anything, it allowed Atletico Madrid to grow into the game even more. The Italian brought Isco on for Benzema, moving Ronaldo and Bale into the middle in a 4-4-2 with Isco on the left and James on the right. This move, however, allowed Atletico Madrid to find more space in the wide areas as both Isco and James would drift inside.

A minute later, Simeone brought on Raul Garcia for Griezmann and then later took off Koke for Torres. The closing minutes of the match were eventful, but neither side broke through.

Conclusion

A relatively entertaining 0-0. Real Madrid should have taken advantage of their dominance in the first half and will certainly be disappointed that Jan Oblak kept them from getting what could have been a crucial away goal. The second half saw Atletico begin to nullify Los Blancos’ way forward and grow into the game, but they were mostly unable to test Casillas.

Simeone will certainly be the happier of the two managers as his side were able to keep Real Madrid from getting an away goal and also made it seven games in a row without losing to their city rivals. Ancelotti will be hugely disappointed that his side were unable to take advantage of their chances and, with Atletico’s recent record against Real, he will be worried about conceding at home.