Match date: 24 May 2014

A historic occasion, as it is the first time there are two teams from the same city competing in the Champions League final. A win for Real Madrid meant that they could receive their much coveted tenth title, La Decima, while a win for Atletico Madrid meant they could capture their first title in Europe’s elite competition, having won the Europa League in 2009-2010 and 2011-2012.

Carlo Ancelotti, who with a win would equal Bob Paisley’s record of three European Cups, had to replace Pepe, because of injury, and Xabi Alonso, because of suspension, in what would have arguably been his strongest starting XI, with Varane and Khedira.

Diego Simeone took a risk by starting Diego Costa, who had to be taken off against Barcelona due to a pulled hamstring less than a week ago. Arda Turan, who was also hurt in that match, failed to make the bench meaning that Raul Garcia took his place on the right side of Atletico’s midfield.

One 4-4-2 v Another 4-4-2

Some might argue that Real Madrid were setup in a 4-3-3. It is the most common formation that Ancelotti has set out his side in and, with it, he was able to find a role for Di Maria, the man of the match for Real Madrid, in the side. However, on the day, Real Madrid looked much more like a 4-4-2 than their 4-3-3. Di Maria was on the left while Bale was on the right. Modric and Khedira, who just began playing again this month having been out since November, were responsible for the midfield. WIth the four players behind him, Ronaldo was given a forward role, but was given plenty of freedom to move around the pitch and the responsibility of supporting Benzema. A common pattern was Di Maria’s movement inside triggering Ronaldo to move into that vacated space. Below, you can see the positioning of both sides in the first half from UEFA’s press kit. (Real on the left, Atletico on the right.)

While Real Madrid’s 4-4-2 was a bit more fluid in the players’ movements, Atletico’s 4-4-2 was rigid and organised. There have been times, when Atletico were certainly at their best, in which the movement of Koke and Turan, both with and without the ball, were overloading one wide area with one or both of the strikers. However, in this game, one which they had to remain incredibly disciplined and organised in order to control the spaces that Real could play into, Atletico’s 4-4-2 was rigid, but effective. Koke and Garcia remained narrow throughout, but it allowed a lot of space for Carvajal, in particular, to get forward to support Real Madrid’s attack.

Organisation v Possession

For about 92 minutes, Atletico looked fairly composed and in control of the match, then Sergio Ramos was able to lose his marker and find space to head home a Modric corner. Up until that point, most of Real’s play was in front of Atletico’s low block. Di Maria was content with crossing from deep areas and Atletico were comfortable dealing with those sorts of balls in. Real had chances in the match prior to the equaliser, mainly through Bale, but they were the result of Atletico’s sloppy play when in possession of the ball rather than Real Madrid’s play around the Atletico penalty area. Bale’s best chance came after Tiago attempted to play a pass out to Filipe Luis, only for Bale to intercept and run at the Atletico defense. Aside from that, Atletico did a very good job at keeping the influence of Bale and Ronaldo to a minimum. In the time before Real’s goal, combined, they received the ball just five times in the Atletico penalty area.

Tactically, it should have been much easier for Real to get Bale and Di Maria, and Ronaldo as well, the ball in dangerous positions. Atletico play a very narrow midfield four; they remain compact and shift from side to side as a unit, hoping to win the ball back as it is played back into the middle, leaving the far side full back vulnerable to a 2v1 situation against the opposition winger and full back.

Prior to the match, Xabi Alonso joined Sky Sports and talked about this exact situation, highlighting it as an area that Real Madrid might be able to catch Atletico out. Perhaps ironically, Xabi Alonso is the player most capable in the Real Madrid squad of playing the quick cross field ball required to beat Atletico’s midfield shifting over to create a 2v1. Without him, Real Madrid’s switching was laborious. Alonso’s replacement in the match was Sami Khedira, a player more capable of doing defensive work, but less capable of playing expansive passes like Alonso, ones needed to open up a tight, organised defensive side. As a result of Real’s inability to open up Atletico and the depth of the defending sides back line and midfield, Sergio Ramos ended up seeing a considerable amount of the ball as it was recycled back to him and at times, he did play some diagonal balls, but they were from deeper areas than Alonso would have done so and allowed Atletico more time to shift over.

Atletico still tried to press throughout the match. They were without Costa and Turan to main parts to their pressing and the best two players they have when counter-attacking, but Gabi, who was Atletico’s best player on the night, seemed to be all over the field looking to win the ball back. For all their possession in Atletico’s half and final third, Atletico won the ball back just as many times in Real’s half than Real did in Atletico’s half.

Simeone’s Changes

Tactically, Simeone made the first influential change to the match as he moved from 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 with David Villa as a lone striker. It made it even harder for Atletico to have any breaks through the middle as Villa became a more isolated figure, but Adrian looked better dribbling at Carvajal in the wide areas and almost scored a similar goal to his one against Chelsea as a result of him coming in from the left. Defensively, the change made it a bit harder to press as a unit, but it allowed Koke to tuck inside, giving Atletico a numerical advantage there, and allowed Adrian and Raul Garcia, and then Sosa, to track the runs of Carvajal and Marcelo, respectively.

When Sosa was brought on for Raul Garcia, Atletico looked more like a 4-3-3 than a 4-5-1 as Koke and Gabi supported attacks and Sosa and Adrian looked to be higher up the pitch in support of Villa. It made sense for Simeone to do as well. Adrian kept Carvajal deeper than the full back had been in the first half and Sosa had more energy in pressing, although he struggled to keep Marcelo from having a huge influence on the match.

Ancelotti’s Changes

The italian made a double switch in the 60th minute, bringing on Marcelo and Isco for Coentrao and Khedira. It was certainly a daring move to have both Isco and Modric in the centre of midfield, but in the nature of the match, with Real Madrid dominating possession and in need of a goal, in made sense to bring on another creativity player as well as a more attack minded full back.

As a result, Modric dropped a little bit deeper and add creativity from that area of the pitch that Khedira nor Ramos could really add. Real Madrid’s passing was noticeably quicker following the change, with one of the best examples coming in the 73rd minute when Bale had another chance. Isco’s introduction added a player that contributed more intricate play around Atletico’s penalty area. When Khedira was on the field, he would end up in advanced positions like Isco and Modric, but his passing was sloppy, and it was visible that he had been out of action for six months and was not ready to play in a match with as much pressure on the ball from the opposition.

Real Win It

Going into extra time, Real Madrid were the much more likely of the two to win it before penalty kicks. They not only had players in Modric, Isco, and Di Maria that could break the lines with their passing abilities, but with those three, Bale, Marcelo, and Ronaldo, they had the ability to break lines with their dribbling, which is really what Di Maria did throughout the match and for the winner. The Argentine beat three players on his way to goal only for Courtois to save into the aerial path of Bale, who directed the ball into the goal.

In the build up to the goal, however, it was clear to see that Atletico had grown incredibly tired. For much of the match, they worked hard to deny Real Madrid space and with that amount of ball chasing, it takes it out of players, which allowed Di Maria to take three Atletico players out of the play in the build up.

Conclusion

Somehow, despite average performances from both, Ronaldo and Bale ended up with goals to their names as Real won 4-1, a flattering scoreline for Atletico’s performance in the first 90 minutes, but less so for Real’s extra time performance.

It was a fantastic season for Atletico Madrid, who were minutes away from securing a famous victory; their first European Cup over their rivals. There will no doubt be criticisms of Atletico’s defending on the set piece that lead to Ramos’ goal as he was given a free header, but their organisation and discipline throughout the year was admirable.

Ancelotti joins Bob Paisley as only the second manager to have won three European Cups as a manager, while Real Madrid’s long awaited search for their tenth European Cup is over.

Following the match, Simeone talked about his bitterness and he was certainly upset that the referee added five minutes of time at the end of the 90. It will be interesting to see what comes of Simeone and Atletico. He has to hope that he can hold on to the players that he has, including Courtois, and has to hope that Atletico can compete financially with Real Madrid and Barcelona as they look to continue their growth.