The margins between a good cup run and tangible success grow ever finer at this stage of the season, with the two biggest hitters in the UEFA Champions League, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, ready to face off in the semi-final.
With the first leg taking place on Wednesday night, both head coaches know that their decisions on the day will shape how the tie evolves and who sits in the best shape for the second leg. It's not necessarily with the starting XIs that this first leg depends, though, it's with the substitutions and in-game alterations from Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone.
Both have immensely strong players—mentally and technically—to call upon. They will name teams to not lose and to have the potential to win, and attack the game in their different methods: Atletico pressing hard, countering fast and defending resolutely; Bayern with plenty of possession, movement in the final third and speed in the channels.
As Atleti defender Stefan Savic told Marca, "[Bayern] have another style totally different from ours, but that's the beauty of football—it can be played in different ways and all are worthy."
The matchup of Bayern's wingers against Atleti's full-backs will be critical throughout the 180 minutes of semi-final action, but look also to the benches for both teams.
CHRISTOF STACHE/Getty Images
Bayern could start with talents such as Mario Gotze, Thiago Alcantara, Kingsley Coman or Douglas Costa—or indeed all of those—on the bench. They are game-changers, tactical variances and can score and create.
Atletico can likely call on Yannick Carrasco, Angel Correa or Thomas Partey. They may not yet be on the scale of the Bayern equivalents for worldwide renown, but they can certainly have a similar impact in their own way.
Correa has scored five and assisted four off the bench this season—the most impact by a substitute in La Liga. Partey has the power to surge and outrun any defensive midfielder late in the game, and Carrasco has the speed and skill to blitz the channels and take advantage of diagonal out-balls, the same tactic Real Madrid used to see off Bayern in 2014, the same tactic that Juventus used so well earlier in the competition this term.
A good start can dictate much, but as both teams' quarter-finals show, the full 90 minutes counts in each leg and changes can happen in an instant.
Neither will be fooled, or fuelled, by the initial lineups or what happens in the first 15 minutes in Madrid.
Date: Wednesday, April 27
Time: 7:45 p.m. BST / 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Vicente Calderon, Madrid
TV Info: BT Sport Showcase, BT Sport Europe (UK), Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes (USA)
Live Stream: BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), Fox Soccer 2GO (USA)
The Teams
Both sides could hardly come into the tie in better form. Atletico have caught Barcelona at the top of La Liga, behind only on head-to-head, and have won their last five in all competitions, and 10 of their last 13. Bayern, meanwhile, have won their last three and nine of their last 10.
Atletico have taken a rather tough route to the last-four stage of the Champions League, seeing off Benfica, Galatasaray and Astana in their group phase before needing a penalty shoot-out to beat PSV Eindhoven in the last 16.
They were then drawn against holders Barcelona in the quarters. Over two legs, Atleti eventually got the better of their domestic rivals, winning 3-2 on aggregate.
Most recently, two 1-0 wins in La Liga in the past week have set them up for this semi-final encounter.
Bayern progressed past the group stage ahead of Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal and Olympiacos, with a last-16 clash against Juventus going back and forth before the Germans triumphed in extra time, 6-4 on aggregate. A 3-2 win over Benfica saw them into the semis.
Domestically, Bayern beat Werder Bremen in the DFB-Pokal and Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga to arrive at the first leg in good spirits.
Team News
In terms of selection, the squads couldn't be more different.
Diego Simeone has most of an XI he'd play if everyone was fit, while Pep Guardiola has more options and more systems to flip between.
As it is, injuries limit Atleti almost to the point where Guardiola can probably predict which team he'll face: Tiago remains sidelined with a broken leg, Diego Godin is injured and Yannick Carrasco—a certain starter giving the team an outlet and attacking threat—trained by himself during the build-up. He may not be fit to start but should make the matchday squad, per Marca.
The choice in defence for Cholo will be whether to partner the fit-again Savic or the inexperienced, but recently impressive, Lucas Hernandez, with guaranteed starter Josema Gimenez.
Bayern look in better shape overall; Arjen Robben missed the weekend game and is unlikely to be involved, while Holger Badstuber is a longer-term absentee.
Guardiola rotated again with both personnel and shape at the weekend, moving back to the 3-4-3 after recently going with a 4-2-3-1 system for a game or two.
Possible Lineups
ATM (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Juanfran, Josema Gimenez, Stefan Savic, Filipe Luis; Koke, Gabi, Augusto Fernandez, Saul; Antoine Griezmann,Fernando Torres.
FCB (3-4-3): Manuel Neuer; Medhi Benatia, Javi Martinez, David Alaba; Philipp Lahm, Arturo Vidal, Xabi Alonso, Juan Bernat; Franck Ribery, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller.
Player to Watch: Josema Gimenez (ATM)
MIGUEL RIOPA/Getty Images
Bayern's big selling point, other than dominance of the ball, is the huge levels of movement in the final third that they possess and the rotation of players in attack.
No matter whether they start with a two-, three- or four-man attack, Atleti will try to defend the same way: four in defence holding positions, then a shifting wall or four or five in front to close off spaces and passing lanes.
With no Godin in place, organisation and responsibility to hold the back line intact falls to the younger Uruguayan in the defence, Gimenez.
An able and commanding presence aerially, he should be able to hold off the attentions of Lewandowski better than most, while his reading of the game and ability to snuff out danger before teams create shooting chances has improved markedly this term.
He'll need to be on his game to help Atleti through, regardless of whether he's beside Savic or Lucas.
Prediction: Atletico 1-1 Bayern
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário