In the Zone: How Atleti bent Leverkusen duel to their will

In the press conference room at the Metropolitano late on Tuesday night, Diego Simeone offered several factors he considered crucial to his Atlético de Madrid side's late comeback win over Leverkusen.

Tellingly, he did not dwell on technique or talent – which are a given at UEFA Champions League level – but rather on certain less glamorous but no-less-essential things. "You could see the hard work, the leadership, the determination, knowing how to suffer and being able to read the game," he said, purring with pride.

As we will show in this analysis brought to you by FedEx, this was a football match where mentality and graft were fundamental. Yes, Atleti had the scoring touch of Julián Alvarez but as the video below will show, their attitude was key to them finding a way to turn the game around after having been second-best to Leverkusen for 45 minutes.

Clip one centres on the industry of Rodrigo De Paul. It shows him winning the ball from Florian Wirtz in an action typical of his tireless contribution on an evening when the Argentinian, one of Simeone's on-field leaders, produced 54 pressures. He was not alone, of course, and it was telling that the top five-ranked players for pressures were all in red-and-white shirts.

If that was a glimpse of Atleti's aggression, clip two highlights their energy and endurance in the form of Marcos Llorente, who we see hare over to Leverkusen's left touchline to thwart a potential counterattack. This one sprint is illustrative of his overall contribution without the ball: he ran a total distance of 8.2km out of possession – more than any other player on the pitch – and ended the match also ranked first for out-of-possession sprints (27).

Simeone used other words when elaborating on the outstanding collective effort of an Atleti team who, from the the 23rd to the 76th minute, played with one man less after Pablo Barrios's early dismissal. "In the second half, it was great to see the team reading how to play every situation, reading how to play every duel," he said. "They played with intelligence and with bravery."

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, their second-half display was a demonstration to young coaches of how to shape a contest to your will, through know-how and game management. Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso admitted that his side's loss of control went "beyond tactical or football reasons". He said that after conceding an equaliser "out of nothing", his players "lost confidence and weren't able to recover our composure". And with that momentum shift, "the game opened up and went in the direction they wanted to take it".

Aitor Karanka, the UEFA observer watching at the Metropolitano, agreed with Alonso that the "emotional aspect" was decisive. He said: "Atlético won precisely because of the emotional aspect. Leverkusen were better when it was 11 each. With the sending-off, Atlético became more like Atlético – they're comfortable without the ball and when you have players up front like [Antoine] Griezmann and Alvarez, the chances you get, even if they are few, will be dangerous. And then from defending in a low block, after half-time they got into the game and I think Leverkusen were surprised. They expected Atlético to be defending but they went for it and with the fans behind them were able to turn it around.

"Ultimately, Atlético got Leverkusen into a game they didn't want," added Karanka. "There were times when Leverkusen players, rather than focus on playing, which is what they know and what they do so well, got involved instead in battles. And in a psychological contest, if we can call it that, Atlético in their stadium are much stronger than any opponent."

For the Madrid side, the outcome was an eighth match this season where they have come from behind to win with a late goal. Some of the less glitzy ingredients involved – commitment, determination, hard-running – feature again in the third and final clip which shows the lead-up to Alvarez's equaliser. In a 30-second sequence, Atleti players are seen racing back to thwart a counterattack before advancing the ball down to the other end where Alvarez finds the net. As Simeone summed it up afterwards: "The story of the club is this."