Soccer

Barcelona Best Atletico Madrid in Dominant Performance

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Barcelona Atletico Madrid Copa del Rey

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Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey quarterfinals thanks to Lionel Messi‘s late-winner in the 84th minute.

Atletico Madrid played in a 4-4-2 and a 4-2-3-1, differing from time to time depending on how fast and how successfully Barcelona attacked. This was the mistake that cost them as they happened to sit back way too much inside their own half, eventually falling completely out of the game.

Diego Simeone disallowed his team to play fast and hard on the counter. Instead, he would force the play out wide, which gave the hosts all the time in the world to organize themselves accordingly. This plan brought about a half-hearted attempt for the visitors to actually win this game.

Both teams fielded their starters, but only one truly went for the win. The reason why this was so close is because Atletico spent the majority of the second half sitting back to allow Barcelona have possession, hoping they would tire themselves out. As expected, they broke towards the end and couldn’t even create a decent equalizing chance in front of Barca’s frame.

In leg two of this quarterfinal, Atletico Madrid has to be allowed to play with guns blazing as this tactic did wonders for Real Madrid earlier in the season when they defeated Barca 3-1. With their 4-4-2 covering all the bases defensively and good enough to hit on a counter, they could put two or even three past their opponents.

Barcelona will look to have more possession as usual in addition to living in the final third of the field with Neymar, Messi and Luis Suarez all looking to hit the back of the net. This tactic has worked wonders throughout the season, and Atletico Madrid has let them have their way in their first two meetings thus far.

Atletico can stop this if they do more than just contain and receive a tremendous amount of pressure. Instead, they have to be bold enough to attack, play harder yet cleaner and quit complaining to the referees about every little call. Starting Mario Mandzukic instead of Fernando Torres is also a smart choice.

Barcelona can be defeated at the Vicente Calderon in regulation by more than one goal if the game plan is to play brave soccer.

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