Liverpool and Atletico Madrid: Two sides of a different coin
Liverpool and Atletico Madrid are two sides of a different coin. They are similar but different and they face off in the Champions League on Wednesday.
As much as the similarities in defensive structure largely define these sides; both are stingy when goals allowed, shots on target, goal scoring chances allowed, and such defensive defining stats are considered.
How they go about their business to achieve these stingy stats are like night and day. Their playing styles and overall match plans; their team philosophies and ethos are polar opposite.
Liverpool likes to keep possession and dictate tempo, press high up the pitch, win balls back as early if possible. Jurgen Klopp wants to control the midfield, win second balls, and drive wide with overlapping play and runs into the space and the final third by the full-backs.
They are exceptionally quick on the counter, and aren’t afraid to drive long balls forward to test the aerial skills of opponents going deep. They are dangerous on set pieces.
Defensively we are the envy of most other sides. Virgil van Dijk and Alisson form the spine at the back. Offensively Liverpool just have so many ways and options to score, and they seem to have a knack for shifting formation and structure within a given match to exploit whatever may be happening in the moment.
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This is Klopp’s fingerprints, precisely.
If the match becomes chaotic, expect the Reds to thrive, as a match becomes more loose and frenetic, this is when they really shine.
This is the type of fixture where Gini Wijnaldum should come to the fore, with his skills with the ball at his feet. Because of Atletico’s style of three players closing down the ball in a triangle trap, Wijnaldum has the poise to confound these traps in the middle of the park.
Atletico, by contrast, attempts to be physically intimidating by clear intention, and will concede possession keeping to a tight 4-4-2 formation relying on a world class defense that defies opponents to ‘bring it on’.
They attempt to control tempo through this defensive structure, keeping tight between the lines attempting to shrink the park and open space, they too will press high seeking to win balls in the midfield where they quickly morph to a 4-2-2-1 attacking spear, versatile in the counter both out wide and through the middle of the park. In the Champions League, especially, they will seek control through this method.
Look for Diego Simeone’s men to rely on midfield traps out wide as Liverpool will attempt to exploit wide to the touch lines, where three Atletico defenders will smother the ball. This has been their modus operandi for several seasons. With a rock in Diego Godan in center-back, and Jan Oblak between the sticks, this team’s confidence in their ability to deny goals and keep clean sheets is very similar to the confidence we see in the Liverpool side. They are dangerous on the counter and they are very competent at set pieces.
Both teams reflect in their play on the pitch, the philosophy and ethos of their lively, gregarious and highly visible managers.
(More on this later, as we are planning a feature contrasting these two world class managers).
Liverpool will have a full compliment of healthy choices, barring any pre-match niggles. Atletico have had some injury issues these past weeks and have had several regulars on the mend. Expect Simione to throw everything in his tool kit at this fixture.
The Reds return to the Wanda Metropolitano where they won their sixth European/Champions League trophy in June 2019. The venue will be as worthy of the tie between these two classically different but similar sides as the old Vicente Calderon. Expect it to be a snake pit for the away side. A strong test for Jürgen Klopp and his Reds on the road, another Champions League night! Look for a fiercely fought contest.
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A 0-0 draw is not out of the question here, but Klopp and the Reds will be hungry, looking to bloody the nose of Simione and this Atletico side by nicking an away goal or two to make the return fixture less of a pressure tie.
Words by Paul Landwehr.