El Derbi Madrileño is always a big thing in La Liga. Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid facing off for supremacy in the capital means guaranteed excitement and an excellent battle of tactics. This time around, nothing could separate Diego Simeone and Zinedine Zidane and with a 1-1 draw unfolding, it feels Barcelona were the ones to profit.
This tactical analysis will tell you how the proceedings unfolded last Sunday and how two titans of Spanish football finished their clash in a stalemate.
Lineups
After a long time, Atletico Madrid could finally deploy their strongest 11 onto the pitch. With the return of Kieran Trippier and the other key pieces fit and ready, Simeone had to make a statement. Even though on paper the Rojiblancos were in a variation of a 4-1-4-1, this was more of a 3-5-2 in possession and a 4-5-1 out of it.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, opted for a somewhat rotated squad with some surprises by Zidane. The inclusions of Rodrygo and Marco Asensio, in particular, were not expected and ended up almost costing them the game. The backline was also heavily depleted with Sergio Ramos still out and Nacho Fernández covering next to Raphaël Varane. Los Blancos started the game in a 4-3-3 formation, which felt too rigid, often even constricting their movement. For that reason, as we’ll see further down the line of this tactical analysis, Zidane had to change things up.
Real Madrid’s ineffective press
One of Real Madrid’s constant features over the years have been their pressing tactics. Los Blancos love to push high up the pitch and contest possession as close to the opposition goal as possible. However, in recent times, their press has been rather ineffective and against Atlético Madrid, it caused them to lose control over the game.
