Match date: 8 March 2015

This match is a big one for both sides. For the home side, Atletico Madrid, there is a necessity to win in order to keep up with Real Madrid and Barcelona, the latter of which went top of La Liga for the first time in over 100 days. For Valencia, a win could mean they go above Atletico Madrid.

Simeone opted to start Fernando Torres and Raul Garcia up top with Griezmann out and Mario Mandzukic and Simeone falling out during the week. The midfield was at its strongest with Koke, Gabi, Tiago, and Turan all in the side in a 4-4-2.

Nuno has done an excellent job with Valencia since taking over in July. As mentioned above, with a win Valencia could overtake Atletico Madrid with a win and move into third. Nuno set his side out in a 4-3-3.

Both Teams Struggle Going Forward

The opening stages of the match were cagey as both teams really struggled to get the ball forward in any effective manner. Valencia were slightly more successful in doing so, but so much of their possession in the early stages of the match was kept between Otamendi and Mustafi and at times, when they stayed deep, Gaya and Barragan. It was sterile possession, but Atletico’s forwards were happy to allow them to have it as long as Valencia couldn’t play forward passes into the midfield three and as usual, Atletico did an excellent job at cutting off these passing lanes. Notice below where the majority of Valencia’s passes are (in their own half) and notice where Parejo has to go to pick up the ball. The number 10 was forced to drop in order to get on the ball, which meant that his creativity going forward was nullified a bit.

Just prior to the opening goal, Atletico started to show signs of pressing and was effective when they committed players, but much of the time Torres found himself chasing the ball between Otamendi and Mustafi with little support from Garcia, Gabi, or Tiago.

As much as Valencia struggled early on, so did Atletico. While they absorbed the pressure from Valencia when the visiting side were able to get up the field, when they won the ball, Atletico struggled to get the ball forward and ended up playing very hopeful long balls into the wide areas with Gaya and Barragan committed forward for Valencia, leaving that space vulnerable to the runs of Torres.

Wide Areas

Koke’s goal, which came as the result of a set piece and a knock down in the box, opened the game up quite a bit. Both teams started to get forward with much more ease. The key battle that came as a result of the goal was in the wide areas. Atletico Madrid are well known for their wide play, and especially as Turan and Koke were both on the field, there was a better understanding than there has been during Koke’s absence. As Turan and Koke do, they look to overload one side of the pitch to breakdown their opposition and they did very well, especially down the right with Koke drifting over to help Juanfran and Turan overload Gaya and Piatti.

As Koke and Turan would overload each side, however, it allowed Valencia to attack the wide areas when they won the ball back and were on the attack. Both Gaya and Barragan got forward well, although neither were particularly effective. As Atletico looked to overload the right side of their attack it meant that Barragan, in particular, had a huge amount of space at times and had countless opportunities to get the ball into the box with Negredo a good target, but his crossing was very poor. Valencia tried to attack down the left, however, through Gaya and Piatti, but the duo weren’t very influential. Despite the amount of space Barragan had, he did not get the ball as often as he maybe should have and when he did, he struggled. Below is a good example of Parejo, who pulled the strings well in midfield for the away side and found Barragan numerous times in space, quickly switching the ball out to Barragan. The right back had space but with Gimenez applying a bit of pressure, Barragan only managed to hit the side netting with his cross.

In 1v1 situations, Gaya and Barragan struggled as well, as did the entire side and it looked unlikely that Valencia were going to be able to break Atletico down as they struggled to work the ball into the box through crosses or intricate play around the Atletico penalty area.

Changes

Nuno made two changes midway through the second half in an effort to get something from the match. He took off Feghouli, who was relatively ineffective during his time on the field, and replaced him with Rodrigo, and then took off Perez and replaced him with Gomes, who added a bit more of an attacking option to Valencia’s play, but had little impact on the match. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t a change that got Valencia’s equaliser, but instead a decent free kick, poor goalkeeping by Moya, and poor set piece defending by Atletico Madrid that allowed Mustafi to get a headed goal in the 78th minute.

Simeone’s substitutions had more of an impact on the match as he replaced Torres with Mandzukic and then took off Koke for Mario Suarez, changing Atletico’s shape from a 4-4-2 to much more of a 4-5-1, with Raul Garcia moving to the left side of the midfield five. This allowed Valencia more time on the ball at the back and Garcia’s habit to push inside allowed Barragan to continue finding space down the right. As Valencia committed more players forward, it left Fuego a bit more exposed and the defensive midfielder was sent off for bringing down Turan and Jimenez on Atletico counter attacks.

Conclusion

A decisive match for both sides. Valencia maintain their pursuit of overtaking Atletico Madrid for a third place spot, while Atletico Madrid fall behind Real Madrid and Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Both sides could have done much better in their attacks, especially Valencia, who could have exploited the space that Barragan found himself in much more often and perhaps would have had the right back found any consistency in the match with his crossing and decision making.