Champions League Performance Insights: How clever Atlético de Madrid stifled Real Madrid
Monday, March 17, 2025
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UEFA's technical analysis unit, together with Technical Observer Jan Peder Jalland, shine a light on Atleti’s control of the wide areas and their success in escaping with the ball.
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"It is very difficult against Atlético because defensively they are one of the best teams. They defend very well, they work very hard, they have very good solutions defensively."
Real Madrid made it through to the last eight of the Champions League but, as coach Carlo Ancelotti outlined above, they found it difficult to create openings during a tight round of 16 tie with their neighbours.
In the following article, UEFA's technical analysis unit will explore a particular aspect of Atlético de Madrid's defensive organisation in last week's second leg – namely their control of the wide areas when in a mid-to-low block – as well as considering how they then controlled the ball after winning it deep in their own half.
The quest for control
As highlighted following the first leg, this was a tie marked by the quest for control. In the first leg, Atleti had switched to a back five to control the width of the pitch. In their 1-0 second-leg win, they succeeded in thwarting Madrid's combinations in the wide areas through the well-synchronised efforts of the full-back and winger on each side, together with both midfield pivots.
As an illustration, this image captures the average positions of the Atleti players in a low block – and look at the proximity between full-back Marcos Llorente (14), right winger Giuliano Simeone (22) and central midfielder Rodrigo De Paul (5).
Atleti were equally well co-ordinated on their left side through the pair of Reinildo (23) and Conor Gallagher (4) – who replaced Javi Galán and Samuel Lino, who had started the first leg. They were supported closely by midfielder Pablo Barrios (8).
The video above shows examples of Atleti's defensive work in those areas. We see how Reinildo and Gallagher on the left and then Llorente and Simeone on the right act in tandem to frustrate Madrid's efforts to progress. One presses while the other provides cover and Madrid switch play more than once as they look for gaps but cannot find a way through.
'Protecting the space'
As the first clip unfolds, the work of the midfield duo is pertinent too. Barrios and De Paul both shift across, and the role of De Paul is instructive. We see him point to a colleague telling him to push up, as his own job is not to jump but to provide control. As UEFA Technical Observer Jan Peder Jalland explained: "There is a difference between 'jumping' to press and leading the press. The key thing is they are staying in sync and covering space. They were fantastic at protecting the space."
The above metric reflects the efforts of the Atleti players in their defensive third. It shows the leading players for defensive actions (a category including tackles, duels, ball recoveries and interceptions) and Barrios is ranked first with seven.
To return to the video, clip two begins with Madrid again switching the play to their right (Atleti's left) and, as they come back inside, we see the work of De Paul and Barrios in protecting space as they control the zones around Jude Bellingham and Luka Modrić respectively.
"There are very clear zonal principles," said Jalland. "You see players covering zones and the clearest example here is when the centre-back steps up." The centre-back in question is José María Giménez, coming out to deal with Antonio Rüdiger's pass, at which point right-back Llorente comes inside to cover.
According to Atleti coach Diego Simeone "it was a very well controlled game throughout" and the Argentinian stressed the "team play" at the heart of it. Another illustration of this team effort comes from the pitch map above which shows the average distances the Atleti players maintained between each other when out of possession in a low/mid-block.
The second map conveys their compactness in a low/mid-block once more by showing the distance between each line – with just eight metres separating the defence and midfield, for example.
'Looking after the ball'
The other aspect which caught the eye of UEFA's analysts was how Atleti used the ball after they had won it in their half. In the first clip of the video above, we see them escape the counterpressure by making a significant number of passes as they progress the ball into the opposition penalty area. From an educational perspective, a key point here is how well they look after the ball to avoid getting caught in possession following the deep regain.
The second clip continues the theme – after Reinildo's interception, look at the slick interplay between Barrios and De Paul, working the ball around Bellingham and up to Julián Alvarez.
In the third and final clip, it is worth noting the importance to Atleti of getting the ball forward into the opposition half in order to give their defenders some respite. Moreover, by shepherding the ball into Madrid's half, they have got their rivals' dangerous forwards defending inside their own half which means that if Atleti do lose the ball, there is farther for them to travel on the counter.
"If you move Madrid back there, you reduce their counterattacking threat," said Jalland, and it was telling that Madrid had only one counterattack of significance at the Metropolitano and it brought their second-half spot kick.
Coaching reflections
Jan Peder Jalland, UEFA Technical Observer
"When you are defending deep for the majority of the game, it is important to have a plan for when you regain the ball. You cannot expect to counterattack immediately from a deep position every time and so you have to be able to establish possession too. For this, you need players with the ability to recognise how to control the ball, and the composure to use it well to escape pressure as a team.
"The key thing is not to lose the ball after winning it back deep. When it came to escaping the immediate counterpressure and moving the ball into a controlled possession, Atleti were very good at finding the right solutions. From a player development perspective, therefore, it is vital to learn how to pick the right moment to pass, the right moment to run and the right moment to either go forward or to slow down."
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