Inside football’s greatest defense
Atletico Madrid’s achievements over the past 4 yrs have been a miracle. While turning a profit of €16 mil on transfers thru this period, they’ve reached the Champions League final twice, broken the Real-Barca stranglehold to win the league in 2014, a Europa cup in 2012 & the Spanish cup in 2013.
In an era of high-powered offence with quick transition, speed, pressing & high % shots on goals, Atleti have built a complex, versatile & robust system to negate them. Significantly, achieving all of this with such cohesion & alignment to a shared philosophy, professionalism & team work that I have rarely ever seen.
Those who understand football know that defending is far harder to consistently succeed in than attack. It’s not as simple as packing everyone in your box and hoping the team keeps clearing balls. To beat today’s offenses down without leaving gaps at the back requires commitment and quality from a large group of players and no weak links. Look at their amazing defensive stats for this present Spanish league season –
- 45 goals allowed per game (18 goals conceded)
Lowest in any of the big leagues of Europe
- 10 shots on goal allowed per 400 passes completed by their opposition.
Lowest in any of the big leagues in Europe
- 29% of shots blocked before even it gets to goal
Again highest in any of the big leagues in Europe
- 24 tackles per game
Highest in any of Europe’s big leagues
- 3 penalties conceded in 37 games this season
Lowest in any of Europe’s big leagues
And to throw up more stats, in the Spanish league they also boast the following enviable records
- Lowest % of balls progressed into the danger zone (25 yards of goal)
- Lowest % where the opposition can complete a pass in the danger zone
- Lowest % of balls carried by the opposition into their danger zone
- 2nd lowest % to get a close shot against – Barca beats them here
These are just astonishing stats – no other team can top their league in so many different categories as well as across the continent
Before moving further, it’s worth emphasizing Atleti is run by one man – former Argentine midfielder & Atleti’s coach, Diego Simeone. From the President downwards, they all abide by his edict. Be it the length of the grass on the pitch, tickets allocated to visiting sides, playing strategy, transfer decisions, disciplinary matters, pre-season or marketing topics interfering with football – he makes all decisions. He apparently wields more power than Sir Alex, Pep, Wenger or Mourinho did at their clubs. He is the architect & heart of Atleti.
Diego Simeone during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final between Real Madrid CF and Atleti . Real beat Atleti in the tie.
Back to the subject…the evolution of defending in football is fascinating. Starting with the English W-M formation & pragmatic physical marking – Italian bred tough ‘Catenaccio’ systems – Collective transition to zonal marking systems – Cruyff & Barca’s in defending by dominating possession – the Bielsa / Klopp school of up tempo press cum zone based defending. It’s beyond the scope of this piece to go into these but the erudite reader of this piece should definitely buy a copy of Jonathan Wilson’s ‘Inverting the Pyramid’.
In our modern times, the last two systems have gained favour in defending –
- Man United, Bayern & most prominently Barca have prevented goals by hogging possession i.e. the opposition can’t score if they have little of the ball.
- Exponents like Marcelo Biela, Jorge Sampaoli & Jurgen Klopp had sides that weren’t blessed with Barca like talents. They relied on heavy pressing right from the opposition’s goalie/defenders. The objective being to force errors & attempt to win possession as quickly as possible from the opposition. This system is also followed by other teams like Swansea, Celta Vigo
Atletico absolutely is not a possession dominating team due to the level of their talent. Their defensive stats are all the more startling considering they hold only 47% possession – less than West Ham, Las Palmas, Hertha Berlin or even poor Stoke!
It requires a great degree of skill, team work & confidence to bring about the sort of outcome they have. Here is my analysis of how they achieve what they have defensively –
Atleti’s primary tenet is to restrict the opponent’s ability to play in all areas of the field.
Playing style – A narrow, compact shape to crunch space in the middle of the park / danger zones & prevent the opponent from creating scoring chances. They routinely sacrifice space in the wings to protect the center. Atleti strikers press opposition defenders to make them pass immediately to wide areas i.e. wingers / full backs who either run into Atleti’s excellent wide playmakers or their outstanding wing-backs (Juanfran & Luis Filipe). Crossing from deep positions is usually futile & passing into a crunched mid-field is a low % option.
E.g. Champions League semi vs. a Bayern side (2nd leg) known to switch play from one flank to the other in a flash or Xabi hitting a long ball to a wide player with pin point accuracy. Atleti had its forwards, Torres & Griezman, constantly hassling Lahm & Xabi as well as its mid-fielders pressing higher up the pitch.
Positional setup – Bayern vs Atleti – Champions League Semis 2015 1st Leg. Atleti won the tie
Tackling ability – Atletico possess supreme tacklers across the park – this individual ability negates much of the opponent’s short passing game. 24 tackles per game is abnormal & a demotivating factor for their opposition.
Physicality – Across the field, Atleti’s players are strong in the air, very quick & physically robust. Be it set pieces, relentless marking thru 90 mins or handling long balls, they don’t possess the chink that Barca, Bayern or the major English clubs do.
High competent defenders – If the opposition passes all these hurdles & pressure, they are met by the Atleti fullbacks – Diego Godin & Gimenez (Miranda before him). Agile, powerful, good on the ball, calm & hardly ever give away a penalty or red carded. In Oblak (Courtouis before him), they have excellent shot stoppers & show great timing.
Overloads – The beauty of their system is how dynamically the combination of wide play-makers (Koke, Carrasco…), full-backs, mid-field anchors (Gabi, Saul…) create zones where Atleti have sudden numerical superiority around the vicinity of the ball isolating opponents i.e. Overload. This is typically done by flanking the opponent against the byline or on rare occasions an offside trap. This strategy not only help win the ball back quickly to start counters but shuts down high quality individualists like Messi & Ronaldo who rely on speed & dribbling capability to break down defenses.
Collectivism – Most importantly, defending the way Atletico do requires almost missionary zest in sacrificing individualism for the common goal & a work rate.
Fitness – Atleti’s fitness even in late stages of the game, quick movement, practice, collective concentration & regimented style makes them a hard nut to crack.
Strategy & close alignment to it on the field – Atleti’s style though familiar is customized for specific opponent by Simeone. The schemes are closely guarded & practiced to death. The team only break their shape when say the odds of winning a ball in a crucial area are high & the cost of failure is minimal. Recent e.g. was how Atleti stymied Busquents in Champions League quarters ensuring the famous MSN trio were starved of service or dropping deep into a crowded mid-field to find the ball.
It is a great paradox that Atleti can play against any elite club without having to adjust their approach / style. Barca are the only ones who can claim this. Probably Bayern with their all-round effectiveness & Real with their brilliant individuals come close. Irrespective of whether they win or not at Milan’s San Siro in a fortnight’s time during the Champions league final 15-16, Atleti’s performance has thus been truly remarkable & is already be a subject of much tactical study.
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Related reading –
http://theinsidechannel.com/guide-atletico-madrids-tactics-diego-simeone/
Picture credits
Atletico Madrid
Getty
Madan Thinks 
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