UEFA Champions League final: 5 things Atletico Madrid needs to do in order to win

#2 Conserving energy for extra time

Players like Koke will have a lot of running to do

It’s no secret that Atletico Madrid plays a high-intensity game without a lot of possession. In fact, in the recently concluded La Liga campaign, Atletico recorded less than 50% average possession throughout the season, according to Whoscored.com. Such an approach requires their players to be extremely fit as it involves a lot of off the ball running. This would mean that by the time 90 minutes are over, most players would be exhausted.

Although the same approach has been lauded by football experts world over, it caused Atleti’s downfall in the 2014 final.

After chasing every lost cause and giving their all in regulation time, Atletico’s players hardly had any fuel left in the tank in extra time. This allowed the comparatively ‘fresher’ Real players to dominate play. The result – three goals and a bitter end to Atletico’s dream of winning the Champions League.

Diego Simeone has to ensure the same mistake is not repeated again. He has to tell his players to pick and choose their runs so as to conserve energy in case the game goes into extra time.