In many ways, Atletico Madrid’s 4-2 win against Leverkusen on Tuesday was the perfect away performance. Four goals on the road put Diego Simeone’s men in an extremely commanding position heading into the second leg, and there is no reason why their run should stop there.
Gabi may miss the next match due to suspension, but Los Colchoneros will soon have number one goalkeeper Jan Oblak to call upon again. The Slovenian shot-stopper took a seat on the bench in Germany after returning from a shoulder injury this week, only to watch his deputy Miguel Angel Moya play a pivotal role in Stefan Savic netting an unfortunate own goal.
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With Oblak back in between the sticks, and with Diego Godin and Juanfran to return from injury layoffs in the short-term future, the foundations are being laid for Atletico to go on and defy the odds. Under Simeone, the underdogs are used to being the Champions League bridesmaid, rather than the bride, but their system and player profiles leave them in a strong position in the knock-out stages.
Their 4-4-2 system makes it tough for other teams to play between the lines, instead funnelling the opposition into wide areas, forcing them to whip crosses into the box that their imposing centre-backs can deal with simply. Moya may not inspire the same confidence when commanding his area as Oblak can, but the ex-Benfica goalkeeper’s immediate arrival in the first-team picture will settle everyone’s nerves.
Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro have both been through dry spells during this course of this season but during the last week or so, things look to be on the up. Gradually, as they are given more playing time together, there is an understanding growing which can only be made easier by the fact they are compatriots.
The French duo offer pace, intelligence and movement, with Kevin Gameiro’s first goal of his five-minute hat-trick against Sporting Gijon highlighting the last two with aplomb. While Griezmann enjoys dropping a little bit deeper at times to help play in between the lines, Gameiro is most comfortable when given the chance to use his pace to get in behind or stretch defences.
When teams are very defensive, reserved and tough to break down, Griezmann can offer the little bit of invention required to unlock the opposition defence. If Atletico are on the back foot and have their opponents camped within their own half, both Gameiro and his go-to strike partner have the pace and ability to dribble at speed which would allow them to get in behind on the counter.
Gameiro’s hat-trick, which was followed up by a man-of-the-match showing against Leverkusen, can only go on to build up the ex-Sevilla striker’s confidence. After scoring from the spot this week, the hoodoo surrounding Atletico’s penalty conversion rate might just have been taken down a notch too, which could be an important factor given that both of their Champions League final appearances have at least run to the 120-minute mark.
To all intents and purposes, Atletico’s LaLiga campaign is over. While Real Madrid sweat out a push, and a possible overextension, on two fronts, Simeone is clear with his targets. Game by game, Los Colchoneros will take their European matches as they come, and they will fight tooth and nail to keep progressing.
The fierce, tenacious and exhausting nature of Simeone’s mentality may not be getting the desired results in domestic football, but in the shorter, knock-out format of the Champions League, everything that the Argentine coach embodies is perfect for the task at hand.
Each time that Atletico found the back of the net against Leverkusen, you could see exactly what it meant to their boss on the sideline, and there is an overpowering feeling that we will be seeing Simeone’s European celebrations this campaign for a long while yet.
