Atlético: the two ways to beat Real Madrid according to Simeone | Soccer | Sports

Óscar Ruggeri crossed paths with Rodrigo de Paul in the bowels of the Metropolitano at the end of the cup derby between Atlético and Real Madrid. “You are already at the level at which you play in the Argentine team,” the former center back, World Champion in 1986 and friend of Diego Pablo Simeone, snapped at the wheel. The Atlético coach not only shares that opinion; For Cholo, De Paul had his best game since he arrived at the club in the summer of 2021, confirming his growth in the weight of the team’s game and also in leadership. The performances of Koke and Giménez, who had been underperforming for several games, also caught Simeone’s eye. In reality, the Argentine coach had general satisfaction with the performance of his players and the execution of the plan drawn up to inflict Real Madrid with its second defeat of the season. At this point in the season, Atlético is the only team that has been able to beat Carlo Ancelotti’s team and they have achieved it in two different ways.

Simeone designed a duel different from that of the League, in which he won (3-1) and that of the Super Cup, lost in extra time (5-3). For those two games he planned a very intense and aggressive team to play in the opposite field in the first half hour. The defeat in Riyadh, attributed in part to Real Madrid’s physical superiority in extra time, led him to plot a different path. This time the red and white coach prepared his players for a long game. He didn’t want them to collapse in the first half. He ordered Real Madrid to close the spaces inside and try to defend with the ball. In the first act, this second part of the plan did not work because Madrid had more of the ball, but it did ensure that his team did not wear out in the roulette wheel of a frenetic back and forth. Simeone took risks with man-to-man pressure in the opposite field at very specific moments.

In the previous round, Cholo had insisted on the need for his players to raise the level to win the individual duels and there he was also satisfied. Both for the concentration shown and for the mental speed to make the right decisions at the right moment. When Madrid was able to overcome the pressure and run into the open field, Simeone also ended up very satisfied with the withdrawals of his team. “We managed to sustain Madrid’s attack, which is not easy, especially when they counterattack,” explained Simeone.

Prof. Ortega

The extension put the strategy of managing gasoline to the test. Unlike the Super Cup semi-final, Atlético played it more in the opposite field. Simeone also played with the greatest wear and tear for Real Madrid, who had to play the final against Barcelona and did not land in Madrid until early Monday morning.

The physical issue had put Profe Ortega on the spot. It was good for the red-and-white physical trainer that the team did not collapse in extra time because it is going through a delicate moment. His contract ends in June, he has not yet renewed it, and according to various sources consulted both in the club and in Ortega’s circle, right now he is more outside the club than inside the club with a view to the next season. For four years, the Uruguayan coach has separated his renewals from those of Simeone and negotiates on his behalf.

The parties are awaiting a final conversation that has been postponed. This was scheduled to take place at the beginning of January, but Ortega himself decided to delay it after learning that Real Madrid would also be a rival in the Cup. The management’s offer is downward, in accordance with the renewals signed by Simeone, Morata and Giménez, and with the offers made to Koke and Mario Hermoso. The coach knows the situation and accepts that the Uruguayan coach will continue, if he reaches an agreement with the club, and if he finally ends up leaving.

The topic is delicate because Ortega is the physical trainer with whom Simeone has made his stage the most successful in Atlético’s history. And neither the club nor the coach want to be blamed for his hypothetical departure. Although the entity warns that “other times it seemed like it was leaving and finally it has stayed.”

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2024-01-20 09:33:06
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