La Liga 2018/19: Atletico Madrid vs Real Betis

On Sunday two of the best teams in the Spanish Primera Division, this season faced each other in the Wanda Metropolitano. In the end, Atletico was capable of beating the strong Real Betis of Quique Setién with 1:0. But, the game had a lot to offer. It was basically another match-up of defensive masterclass versus positional play.

Under Diego Simeone, Atletico became probably the best defensive team on the planet. While Quique Setién formed an excellent team in Sevilla which executes the ideas of positional play nearly to perfection and was extremely successful last season.

Setién´s intelligent plan

As always Real Betis played in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Canales and Guardado, later Carvalho as central midfielders. While Lo Celso and Joaquin were more offensively and moved between the midfield and defensive line of Atletico.

Atletico, on the other hand, used their usual 4-4-2 formation which could transform into different shapes during the pressing. With Koke and Saul Atletico had to very flexible midfielders on the pitch and with Kalinic a dangerous striker who got supported by Antoine Griezmann.

From the start of the game, Atletico tried to press higher up the pitch in order to disrupt Real Betis rhythm. The side of Setién usually loves to build-up from behind and rarely chooses a long ball. Even under the strong pressure of Atletico Real Betis tried to find solutions with their short passing. One major reason why Real Betis dominated the first half was their precise positioning due to the principles of positional play.

They occupied the necessary spaces nicely and were always connected through triangles and diagonal passing options. With Pau, Lopez Betis has a technically gifted goalkeeper on who they relied on during the build-up. Against Atletico, Setién had an interesting plan to overcome the pressing of the Rojiblancos. When Real Betis played out from the back their central midfielder Marc Bartra pushed into space in front of the defensive line.