The competition is intensifying in La Liga, with Atlético Madrid leading the table with 44 points after 19 matches, just one point ahead of Real Madrid, who have 43 points.
Barcelona and Athletic Club follow them, with 38 and 36 points, respectively, in third and fourth place.
When the competition is intense, fine margins can be crucial in determining the title winner.
One such margin is set pieces.
Everyone knows that Atlético Madrid are very strong defensively, so there is no surprise that they are the best defence in La Liga, conceding just 12 goals so far.
However, an important aspect of their attacking set-pieces has started to shine recently, especially in corners.
In this tactical analysis, we will focus on how Diego Simeones side proved excellent at short corners in their last three matches.
We will also show the tactics they used to exploit Antoine Griezmann and Julián Alvarez.
Short-Corner Superiorities
The first idea they have implemented is to create a sudden numerical superiority by starting with no short options.
Then, the edge-of-the-box player moves to receive a short pass and passes it back to the taker, again achieving a quick 2v1 situation.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 14, 2025
Lets clarify that in detail.
In the photo below, Osasuna defend with a man-marking system with just two zonal defenders (green) while noting that Atlético Madrid start with no short-option attackers.
Atlético Madrid start with six players inside the box, two edge-of-the-box attackers for the rebound and a player at the back (out of the shot) to be ready against any probable counterattacks.
One of the edge-of-the-box players (yellow) goes to receive a pass and passes it again to the taker.
In the photo below, the first zonal defender starts to run to help, but he has to go a long way, which frees the taker and gives him enough time to cross the ball (in-swinging) from a nearer point.
In the second part of the plan, focus on the six players in the box (numbered):
1- #1 and #2 (blue) will go to the far post (the targeted ar
