Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid, La Liga 2015-16 - Atletico Madrid dash Real Madrid's dreams

What makes Atletico Madria a tough opponent these days? 1. A rock solid defence 2. Conscientious strikers and 3. The ability to frustarte the opponent as much as possible. They utilize 4-4-2 format like Carlos Alberto Peireira’s Brazil of 1994.

Strikers Antonio Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torress, like Romario and Bebeto, presses the central defenders hard while behind, the widemen Koke and Saul, like Zinho and Rai/Mazinho, inside to help the central midfeilders, Gabi and Augusto Fernandez, like Dunga and Mauro Silva, to close down the opposition midfelders. Had Diego Simone been blessed with someone like Romario or Bebeto up in front, this Atletico side could have bloom flowers.

Real Madrid just could not make the best use of the gaps created by Gabi and Augusto’s advanced positions in the first half. And why did it happen? The Atletico Madrid’s defenders were quickly into the attack to dent the further progression of Real Madrid’s forward. One thing I know, to outsmart such rugged defence, pace and dribbling abilities are extremely useful. Barcelona’s charismatic trio shows this again and again, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho showed it long ago while Pele, Garrincha, Didi and Vava taught the world of how to use pace and dribbling at will against the stubborn defenders.   

Cristiano Ronaldo can amalgamate pace and dribble to outweigh the defence, but where is his support. Such superstars at club level need support as they are not Pele, Garrincha or Diego Maradona. Or, I might just say, CR7 just failed to inspire others and earn the support needed for Real. Griezmann showed how to earn support though. He was never a lone figure up in front – waiting for the opportunity to score goals. But, came down deep when needed and tackled to earn the ball and for which, he was able to read the situation and linked up beautifully with the wider flanks and progress forward to silence the Bernabeu crowd.

In the 53^rd minute Griezmann galloped with the ball from deep down to the centre and linked up with the left-back Felipe Luis to move the attention towards him and create space. Luis immediately passed it to Griezmann and he netted the ball to leave Kaylor Navas stunned. The goal was a product of Griezmann’s industrious nature – not just hang around and wait for the opportunity but create opportunities.

I guess, Real Madrid’s dream of winning the La Liga title is over. They can now focus on winning the Champions League title, but with such an average mindset they can’t go further in the competition. Again, there lacks a sound co-ordination between defence and midfield. The midfield remains less-creative as usual. Zidane has to polish the mindset of his men and fix his midfield and defence. Let him give more time. Whimsical chopping and changing will not bring anything good for Real Madrid. In football or any form of sports, patience and sound knowledge of the game bear more weight than the power of dollars.  

Meanwhile, CR7 should stop the blame game. He has a lot to learn from Messi. You can’t undermine your teammates this way. If you think you are the best then, try to lift your team like Pele and Maradona. Otherwise, shut your mouth and accept that, you can only fire the guns against below-par oppositions while you are nothing but a dumb against good oppositions. Scoring 10,000 goals is not enough to claim supremacy.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar