Atletico Madrid won the first leg of their Champions League clash against Juventus 2-0 showing great potential to be one of the finalists this season. The Italian team couldn’t react properly to what is usually their strength – outstanding defensive actions – and failed to provide the expected performance.
Being defensively outplayed is not something common for the Serie A champions, but up against Atleti they should’ve been better prepared. As relative underdogs Los Rojiblancos had the perfect plan of mixing their defensive stability with strong build-up play which caused problems in areas that Juve weren’t expecting.
Massimiliano Allegri fell into his own trap as he didn’t have a plan B and continuously pushed the team to the same mistakes as a result of his tactical decisions. On the other side, Diego Simeone looked more than prepared for the clash as his team performed a Champions League masterclass, especially against one of the favourites in Juventus.
Is Bianconeri’s defeat a result of the lack of a real competitor and therefore adequate preparation in Serie A, or did Atletico Madrid just show their true colours and are currently the better team?
Lineups
Both teams played in their most common formations. While Allegri sometimes switches between formations Atletico followed their 4-4-2 scheme in pursuit of their routine defensive discipline. In front of Jan Oblak, two of the teams most important players were positioned, Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez.
They both turned out to be the heroes of the night, scoring two goals in five minutes and completely destroying Juventus’ hopes of a clean sheet. The full-backs Juanfran and Felipe Luis would often be found in the opposition’s half when in possession, supporting their teammates.
