Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid tactical preview - David Luiz the key

Chelsea need to be on their game to defeat Atletico MAdrid

After witnessing what was in no every possible capacity, a mauling of the reigning champions last night, tonight’s clash between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid will be expected to have something similar in store. While Atletico will be looking to ride their hot form and reach the final after almost 40 years, Chelsea will be looking to step into their 3rd final in 7 years. In this 2nd leg, Chelsea need to score a goal more than their opposition to win, while a scored draw will be good enough for Atletico to go through. While we have covered most of the facts about the history of the teams in the first leg preview, we will dive right into the game strategy and tactics the managers could use.

Team News

Though Chelsea got a favorable result at Vicente Calderon, they were not careful enough to restrict themselves in their tackles. Jose Mourinho will not be having the services of Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel for the second leg at Stamford Bridge. Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah are ineligible to play, which leaves almost no options in midfield for Mourinho. Petr Cech and John Terry suffered scary injuries in the first leg, and were ruled out for the season at first. But, having had a full training session this morning, along with the returning Eto’o and Hazard, Mourinho will be handed a big boost for his team selection.

Diego Simeone has no injury complaints going into this match, but will not have only Gabi for selection as he is suspended, after he picked his 3rd yellow of the campaign in the first leg last week. Tiago is expected to start alongside Mario Suarez in midfield for Atletico. It is unlikely that there will be any more changes to what is a stable starting XI.

Probable Starting XI’s

Chelsea: Schwarzer – Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta – Luiz, Ramires – Hazard, Willian, Schurrle – Eto’o

Atletico Madrid: Courtois – Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe – Koke, Tiago, Suarez, Turan - Villa, Costa

Tactics

Having opted for a defensive style of play in the first leg, Mourinho will be most likely be looking to do the same in the 2nd leg too. Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto’o were not in the squad last week, but their return to the first XI, will make things interesting tactically. Mourinho used a 3 man midfield last Tuesday, to close down space between the lines and provide a good screen for the defense.

A similar strategy was employed against Liverpool in midweek with a depleted side. But now, Mourinho doesn’t have the liberty to field 3 midfielders, as two of the four are suspended. Marco Van Ginkel might have returned to full fitness, but lack of match practice rules him out of a place in the starting XI. This means David Luiz and Ramires get the midfield spots, forming a double pivot.

With Terry supposedly returning to full fitness, Mourinho will want to get back to his first choice back four of Ivanovic-Cahill-Terry-Azpilicueta and keep his options open, in case he needs to shift to a back 3. A Terry-less backline will be significantly different, with Ivanovic moving to CB, Azpilicueta to RB and Ashley Cole coming in at LB. This alternate defense can still work pretty well, as Ivanovic, Azpilicueta and Cole played in those positions against Liverpool.

With Tomas Kalas, who had an impressive debut, on the bench, there is ample backup for either of the choices for the defense line. It might be a gamble to bring Cech back into fray this early, and Schwarzer too looked solid in the previous two games. So, Mourinho will probably wait on this until the last moment.

The talking point about Chelsea’s team selection will surely be their attacking quartet. Oscar didn’t have a great April, and he could again start on the bench, allowing Andre Schurrle a place in the starting XI. A fit Eto’o and Hazard will always be the first choice for Mourinho, which leaves us with the No.10 position. With an unconventional midfield duo of Luiz and Ramires, the choice of no.10 will be a crucial one.

As Hazard is sub-standard in performing his defensive duties, there will be a need for an energetic presence at no.10. This not only compensates for a weak midfield but also allows Hazard to concentrate on his attacking duties more. Willian will most surely be given the start from No.10 position.

Formation Battles

Mourinho used a 4-3-3 with an extremely low block in the first leg, and came back home with the result he wanted, a 0-0. This time around, he will be forced to opt for a 4-2-3-1, due to depleted midfield resources. Atletico Madrid were lined up in their usual 4-4-1-1 formation with Diego Ribas playing as a No.10 behind Diego Costa last week. Expect a similar lineup at Stamford Bridge tonight. So, with a battle between 4-2-3-1 and a 4-4-1-1, the dynamics of the game change a little bit with Chelsea’s change in shape.

A 4-4-1-1 is more or less a defensive version of 4-2-3-1, albeit with a few subtle differences here and there. Chelsea too play more of a 4-4-1-1 rather than a full blown 4-2-3-1 shape in big matches. In the first leg, Chelsea defended deep and invited Atletico to go offensive on them. The Blues were pretty comfortable dealing with such attacks as they had a solid screen of Luiz and Mikel ahead of the defence.

Now with Luiz being the only bulky player in midfield, there is a scope for the game to open up a little. This is where the likes of Villa and Ribas excel. Their intelligent movement in the spaces between defence and midfield tends to drag players out of position, and in turn opening up pockets of space to exploit.

Average player positions of Atletico players in the first leg. Koke and Garcia play centrally, allowing fullbacks to attack

The general tendency of the wide players of both teams is to cut inside and overload the opposition midfield. This naturally forces the defending fullbacks to tuck in and cram the central zones, making it very narrow. Once the flanks become free, the attacking fullbacks have the license to get forward, forcing the defending wingers to follow them. This applies to both teams as they have very similar styles. So, out wide, it is pretty much a 2 v 2 on either flank, and the number get cancelled.

In the midfield though, the initial positions taken up by the deep midfielders will open up spaces for others to operate in. This is where inteligence in movement and individual skill come into play.

The midfield is somewhat a stretched 3 v 3 battle. Luiz and Tiago will most certainly be instructed to sit deep by their respective managers, and break down attacks, both aerially and on the ground. This leaves a lot of space ahead of them, which allows the likes of Ramires and Mario to run into. While Willian is energetic and has a very high defensive contribution, the dominance in midfield will be down to one man, David Villa. Villa’s choice of dropping deep and help his team make up numbers in midfield will be crucial.

If the Spaniard opts to stay high up and trouble the Chelsea defenders, then either of Turan or Koke will be forced to come central, thereby leaving their fullbacks in a 2 v 1 disadvantage. Elsewhere in defence, Chelsea will have to cope with a 2 v 2 situation, with help coming from David Luiz to make it a 3 v 2 against Villa and Costa. For Atletico, Godin and Miranda will be up against Samuel Eto’o. It looks favorable to the CB pairing on paper, but the skill of Eto’o to drag players out of position will be a trait to watch for.

Player Roles

David Luiz holds the key for Chelsea

David Luiz will have to sit tight in front of his defence and mark Villa/Ribas out of the game. If Terry and Azpilicueta start at CB and LB respectively, Luiz will have relatively less defencive responsibilities than usual, as the former pair tend to track and cover their regions with ease. So Luiz’s job will be to occupy passing lanes of Villa and Costa and cut out the through balls from midfield.

The Brazilian also might get dragged out of position to compete with Raul Garcia(if he starts) for aerial balls. In that case, Chelsea might get opened up a bit, leaving David Villa free. Either of Willian or Ramires will have to step up and mark the Villa on that occasion.

Ramires needs to emulate the role of a complete midfielder, winning the ball in midfield, offering an option on the counter with his pace, and guarding his defence when defending deep. The lanky Brazillian has come under a lot of scrutiny from fans lately, for his wayward passing and lack of influence in games.

While Mourinho will try to take advantage of his prime qualities, Ramires must step his game up and form a formidable partnership with Luiz. Completing the midfield trio will be another Brazilian, Willian. Highly energetic and intelligent, Willian will provide the legs to chase Atleti players, and also run at the opposition during counters. Simeone will be wary of this threat and will prepare accordingly.

The presence of Eden Hazard will attract more attention from Atleti to that flank. Juanfran will be automatically sucked on to the Belgian opening space behind him. Azpilicueta will try to get forward into that space, so will the likes of Willian and Eto’o. Also, the movement of Eto’o will open up channels for Hazard to operate in.

On the other flank, Andre Schurrle will instructed to be cautious with his positioning. The quality of Koke and attacking nature of Filipe will again restrict Schurrle to the Shadow-fullback role he has been playing in recent weeks.

Ateltico were forced to play attacking football in the first leg, and were frustrated with Chelsea’s defencive shape. They will find a relatively weaker Chelsea midfield for the 2nd leg a welcome development. Simeone chose to start Mario Suarez instead of Tiago to partner Gabi in the first leg. Suarez was impressive with his all-round display, and he will surely start at Stamford Bridge. Tiago will come in to replace the suspended Gabi.

Tiago, who played for Chelsea in Mourinho’s first spell, is a composed midfielder who likes to tackle and disrupt opposition’s play. His reading of the game is quick and has decent positional sense. He will be crucial for Atletico in breaking down Chelsea’s counters. With Ivanovic at RB, it is imperative that he will the focal point of Chelsea’s goalkicks. Tiago might move out onto that flank to compete with the Serbian, leaving behind space for Ramires to run into. Koke will have to cover for Tiago in that respect.

Turan and Koke will again be the invention engines for Simeone, their drifts into central zones and quickness on the flanks will put the Chelsea players on their toes. As for the main man Diego Costa, he will have to turn up for his side, and win aerial battles against Cahill and Terry. The first leg saw an insane amount of crosses into the box, but Atleti players could get their head to them on only 3 occasions.