look at this tactic now it might look like a normal team defending but it was so defensive that it was named anti football Diego simeon's Atletico Madrid became known for this style across Europe but now he's abandoned these tactics Simone has gone all out attack and every tactical decision has focused on this area of the pitch each single player focuses on attacking the final third no matter what position they play it's so unson es is that a word it is now and they're able to break down the strongest of defenses but are also deadly on
the Counterattack make that makes sense now using this tactic Atletico have broken their record for most wins in a row and are now challenging the entire establishment of Spanish football so how exactly has Europe's most defensive manager created such a dangerous attack Atletico Madrid's way of challenging Real Madrid and Barcelona has been to play a style of football that would be shunned by both of them to be defensively Resolute playing a stubborn 442 with structure hard work and solidity and this culture was set at the beginning of atletico's history when they were founded by three
Basque students living in Madrid with one simple goal compete with the best Simone implemented this culture and look he won two League titles in 2014 and 2021 that early success of Atletico so-called anti football it cannot be questioned but there's never any Fear Factor of them taking over the mantle from Real Madrid in Barcelona fulltime as Spain's best so in an attempt to do this Simon had to abandon some of his strongest principles so Simeone ditches the 442 and uses a new 352 formation in the 2223 season which led to them scoring 70 goals this
was more than the 65 they scored when they won the league and although at were Bal in attack this change still wasn't enough to finish above Real Madrid and Barcelona as the 2024 25 season begins it looked like it was going to be more of the same and actually they even reverted back to the old 442 for a couple of games but something happened to Simeone in the wake of this one-nil defeat to R Bettis the penny finally dropped and From the Ashes of defeat he devised his perfect plan to take over La Liga instead
of reverting to what he knew best and becoming more defensive he did the opposite he became even more attacking he has created a way to score goals that makes Atletico deadly going forward and it begins with the goalkeeper during buildup they empty the Midfield and they create overloads in wide areas the goalkeeper has two short passing options to either one of the center backs and what's great about this structure is that it creates a powerful Dynamic out wide you can see that they have tripled up to create a triangle and this all allows them to
attack the opposition with direct forward passes into that next third of the pitch Galan beats the play pressing him and in doing so breaks the GFE Midfield line allowing both loo and Griezmann to make forward runs into the space now created through galan's risky but successful decision and you can see here that they've emptied the Midfield on the right side of the pitch to and the opposition can't cope with what it does to their defensive line let's talk about Central midfielder deole because he is in the right back position during buildup the other Central midfielders
baros is completely on his own in the center of the pitch surrounded by the opposition but that's not a concern for Atletico in fact actually look at Deal's arm he's telling Molina and Simeone to stay high as this is all part of this brand new attacking plan the center Back Robin Len norand carries the ball and plays a pass to depole this simple pass is where the danger begins in the opposition they've got no idea really because before the pass has even arrived at dep's feet Griezmann is already checking the space in behind the defense
and that's where the danger is by the way the movement and the amount of scanning from Griezmann In This Moment is just it's everything that Griezmann is oh is such a joy to watch Atletico overloaded the wide areas and this one movement has completely dismantled the opposition defense griezmann's free role it allows him to move into the the most threatening areas and and now the opposition they don't know who to Mark it's the best use of Griezmann and they've committed so many players forward and with their direct passes into the final third it makes this
new attack just so strong it's these tactics that have also made them deadly on the Counterattack which they proved against the perfect opposition in Barcelona so the ball gets played out wide to deple and Barcelona play an offside trap which of course they always do and it slows him down so Barcelona think the immediate danger is gone but this is where and his instructions to his wide players and in particular the fullbacks come into action the right back Molina suddenly becomes the most dangerous player on the pitch making a direct run into that space and
this puts him in the perfect position to play the ball across to sof the timing of the run from Molina it means that Barcelona are still scurrying back into a defensive position meaning there is so much space for Molina to play the ball across the box and from there soff scores a 96th minute winner against Barcelona and it's a moment that means way more than just the score line it's a moment that atleo needed but the most vital part of the attack are their Strikers who aren't actually Strikers here's why so you got Julian Alvarez
and Antoine Griezmann and they have total freedom on the pitch and this what I've got to stress this this is not the Atletico Madrid that we all know and if you Google Atletico Madrid you won't see this kind of description but they are so fun to watch now look at Alvarez here at Leto have the opposition pinned back but there's little space for him to make a run in behind due to the defensive line so he drops into this little pocket of space the ball is switched to loo on the left and the defense is
concerned about the attacking movement from their left back Galan this causes the defense to drop even deeper and look a normal Striker would work his way into the box but Alvarez he just stays still for a split second and instead of having to move into space he actually waits for the space to be made for him and standing still it gives him the perfect opportunity to take a shot in which he scores his clever movement it's a rare skill which can often mean the difference in matches for them but I've got to say griezmann's role
as a full Striker is unparalleled to any other player on the planet and despite Griezmann not being a midfielder the evacuation of the Midfield wouldn't work without him due to how often he bails out his teammates in possession atleti are building up in their usual fashion here with five players in attack four of them attempting to be on the last line of defense now the problem here is that Barcelona's number five and iGo Martinez is aware of the Run being made on the right and he instructs his teammates to cover the depth this makes the
pass significantly more difficult for atlet to pull off but Griezmann is already one step ahead I can't not smile without when I'm talking about him because he's just yeah he's just Wicked he's making this lovely movement towards the ball something different to what we've come to expect jimz plays the pass to Griezmann who acts quickly and plays a first time pass to the other Center back longlay because he's assess the situation and as I said before he just scans like a demon do demons scan yes they do so Griezmann is asking for the ball here
however he doesn't want it right this second he's always ahead of everyone on the pitch and what he's doing is signaling to his teammates that he's dropping deeper and deeper but why is he doing that well what it means is it's it means that Atletico can play the ball early to him whilst also giving Barcelona little to no reaction time to him dropping deep and again he's always scanning and it's that scan that allows him to play a firsttime pass out wide to the already onrushing Galant these types passes will never get categorized in the
same way as a goal or an assist but in 20125 they arguably hold just as much value for athletic Griezmann is their secret weapon in allowing them to change and alter passing Lanes whilst also ensuring that they are significantly more press proof and this is where we see the uniqueness of Griezmann despite being a crucial tool in beating opposition presses he's also one of their finest attacking tools when atleti do have bodies in Midfield he knows that he doesn't need to drop into deeper positions to clog it all up instead he stays high and he
does he working in the blind spot of the severe Center back so before the pass has been played griezman and he does this a lot he turns away from the ball now this is very rare because despite being 40 yards away from the goal he's already scanning to check the positioning of the goalkeeper which then allows him to make the right decision when it comes to which finish he should apply he sees the goalkeeper out of position takes the shot early and only needs two touches to score one to settle the ball with his left
and then the other to fire home early with his right by Simeone abandoning his principles and going all out attack Atletico set a new club record of 14 wins in a row Real Madrid and Barcelona's worst fears are coming true they're being challenged by the argumentative abrasive allout attack style of athletic
