Atletico Madrid defeated Marseille 3-0 using an aggressive pressing style and exploiting weaknesses in Marseille's build-up play. Atletico pressed high up the pitch and targeted passes to the center backs and goalkeeper. This forced long balls and turnovers that Atletico could counter from. Atletico also used compact defending and pressing of set pieces and throw-ins to restrict Marseille's possession. Their intensity and ability to transition between attacking and defending allowed them to control the match.

1. Atletico de Madrid (3)Griezmann (21’, 49’), Gabi (89’)
vs
Olympique Marseille (0)
Defensive Analysis: 4-4-2 vs 4-2-3-1

2. Line ups

3. Key Characteristics
• Atletico Madrid:
- Aggression
- Bravery
- Intelligence
- Tenacity

4. • Marseille played with a clear 4-2-3-1 system, not placing a focus on rotation or combinations. The objective was to try
and penetrate Atletico’s defensive lines and get the ball into the Number 10. and front three.
How did Marseille attack?
- Circled is Dimitri Payet, OLM’s 10. Between the two
systems his position distinguished a numerical
advantage. He looked to try and stay behind the
Atletico midfield line, looking for a change to receive
in pockets of space. Marseille generally kept their
Wingers wide, who rarely looked to drift inside in an
attempt to receive the ball or at least disrupt the
movements of Atletico.
- Below is an example of how the double pivot of Marseille
would operate.
The idea was to play to receive behind the Strikers and by doing
so draw out Gabi or Saul and leave them with space to attack.
See the next slide for an example…

5. Right: We see a 4v4 situation in the centre of the
pitch. The double pivot are looking to play inside the
‘box’ of Atletico’s 4 players.
Beyond them you can see Payet is free between the
lines; the aim is to break the lines and find him.
Below: Gabi is drawn out to press Sanson, but a 1
touch pass eliminates him and Marseille can play
forwards without pressure (bottom right: 2v1 created
vs pressing CM of Atletico.

6. • At times, the Wingers would drift infield to try and create a
numerical advantage against the Atletico backline, and in turn
receive the ball in pockets of space. Here are a couple of
examples:

7. Example 1: One of the pivots looks to break the midfield line with a forward
run, the LW plays inside. Marseille penetrate the line.
Example 2: RW drifts inside and looks to roll LB with a
turn.

8. • Marseille lacked ‘link’ players to create the free man; to drop towards the ball and
provide the opportunity to bounce the ball to the player being screened by the
pressing Atletico player.
• Atletico took advantage of this, leaving their Strikers against the Centre Back’s,
funnelling play down the flanks and, ultimately, making Marseille play long balls.
This suited the back four of Los Rojiblancos, who were all strong aerially and
covered well.

9. How did Atletico Madrid defend against these tactics?
• Atletico played a high pressing game against Marseille. Griezmann and Costa would normally take up a starting position a few yards in front
of the double pivot of Marseille. From here, they would react to pressing triggers to which they would aggressively press the Centre Backs
(Rami and Luis Gustavo).
• The positioning of Diego Costa was key in preventing Marseille from circulating the ball and, in general, building play down their right hand
side. Atletico looked to restrict play to one side of the pitch, press high, and force long balls.
• Free-kicks and, in particular, throw-in’s were key to Atletico dictating game.
Below: A consistent starting position of the Striker’s and midfield line when out of possession.

10. • The aim of this was to force Marseille to play the ball into a pressing trap out wide. Retaining compactness and denying passes into midfield was key to forcing
the ball out wide.
• We can see the positioning of Diego Costa (circled) as an important detail in Atletico’s setup. When Atletico are content to let the opposition circulate the ball,
Costa would drop in on the nearest midfielder (currently positioned between himself and Griezmann). However, against OLM the idea was to stop the ball
being switch and to funnel play down Atleti’s right flank.
- It also meant that if the ball was won then Costa was in a position to make a run between the split CB’s.
- Griezmann would look to block off/screen any passes into the CM’s of OLM by curving his run when pressing.
Trigger (i): Passes into wide areas
Pressing Triggers

11. Right: The ball has been switched quickly to Amavi at Left Back. This pass
into a wide area is a cue for Correa to press aggressively. The positioning of
the forward line means the only free pass is backwards to the Centre Back,
Luiz Gustavo.
As the pass is played backwards, it is a cue for Griezmann to move off the
marking the CM and press. Below (left) we can see Costa is threatening both
the pass into CM (Anguissa) and to Rami.
Gustavo can either play to GK (and go long) or play ball down the nearside.
Correa positioning (below right) is key to threatening pass to CM by leaving
Amavi free.
Bottom Right: Double Pivot are marked out of the game.
Note: Red lines = nearest player to press if pass were played.

12. Trigger (ii): Backwards and square passes
It was from this pressing trigger that Atletico Madrid scored the opening goal. Mandana’s quality of distribution was
inconsistent, and Los Rojiblancos took advantage of this by seeking to press him whenever the ball was passed backwards to
him.
Here is an example of how Atletico would deal with this situation. Costa (circled) would curve his run to cut off Rami, whilst
Griezmann would go ‘half and half’, threatening a pass into at least 2 players. This usually forced Mandana to go long.

13. • Start positions of Strikers are key: positioned to screen/deter passes into
CM’s; from here any backpasses can be used as a trigger to initiate press.
• Bottom: Mandana plays into Anguissa, who miscontrols. Atletico steal
the ball and score. 1-0.

14. Right: The trigger to press has been recognised – a backwards
pass. Griezmann curves his run to block off the 3v2 overload
Marseille have. Costa locks onto Rami.
Below: Gabi has stepped out to press Anguissa. One way to cope
with the overload would be for Greizmann to drop back to make
a 3v3. However, he stays to ensure ball can’t be circulate to Luis
Gustavo.
Bottom Right: Essential detail- Gabi curves his run on approach
to Sanson to block off Anguissa inside. It’s now a 2v2 outwide
and Marseille end up going long.

15. Trigger iii): Passes into midfield

16. 2-0
Atletico made it 2-0 early in the 2nd half. Ball possession become more regular, before they dropped into a low block- leaving Costa up
front on his own, with Griezmann dropping back to support the midfield in a 4-4-1-1 shape. Nonetheless, when they were in a mid-block
they still pressed aggressively upon appropriate triggers. Their incredible ability in the transition from Attack->Defence ensured that
Marseille struggled to establish consistent phases of possession/comfortable build up.
Marseille become less structured in their build up, with more movement around and ahead of the ball. Direct, in-swinging crosses were
increased as they looked to load the box.
Numerous counter attacking opportunities arose as a result of Atletico Madrid’s ability and desire to win the first and second ball.

17. • Following the extension of their lead, Atletico used a lower line of confrontation for when to press. Marseille also changed
their tactics by switching to a 4-3-3 and looking to try and create overloads out wide in an attempt to unbalance Atletico.
• Below is how Atleti coped with this: their midfield line responded by bringing both CM’s in Gabi and Saul across. Away from
the ball, Griezmann would drop in to provide some balance to the team.
As a result, they prevented overloads from taking place and were able to contain the attack down this flank.

18. • Here is another example - Gabi comes across to mark
Anguissa. Atletico have a 5v4 situation, blocking off any
central or backward passes, effectively trapping
Marseille.
• Bottom right: They win the ball and launch a quick
counter attack via the run of Griezmann.

19. Transition to Defense
Right: Saul – the covering player- wins the ball and a free-kick.
The key for this scenario was the ability for Atletico to quickly get
pressure on the ball to prevent quick forward play, and to force the
ball into wide areas to delay the attack/get numbers around the ball.
Note: Above, Gabi quickly moves towards ball carrier but allows pass
to go to be made before applying aggressive pressure and in turn
cutting off inside options.

20. • Right: This is an example of how Atletico would
structure the team during spells of possession – this
only happened in Marseille’s half.
There are 2 players positioned behind the ball carrier,
whilst in this wide area it is a 6v6 situation, meaning
that when Atletico lose the ball they can immediately
get pressure on the ball to stop forward play.
• For coaches; how does that picture relate to training
design?

21. Set-Pieces & Throw In’s.
• These were essential aspects of Atletico controlling the game. The objective from these situations was to compact
the nearside wide area and play aerial balls to win the 1st & 2nd ball, but also to press aggressively on any loose
balls. This meant that play was restricted to a small area and Marseille couldn’t get into a settled rhythm. For free
kicks, this applied to situations in Atletico’s own half where a crossing opportunity wasn’t possible.
• In this picture we see Atletico
have every player on the left side of
the pitch. Costa is wide left and the
target for Godin’s pass.

22. • Atletico didn’t ever intend to try and recycle the ball from these attacks – if they did that it could potentially give
Marseille an opportunity to press them. So it was always down the line; playing into Costa or playing for flicks-on’s with
runners.
• Attacking throw-in’s also provided them with an excellent opportunity to win 2nd balls and launch attacks close to
Marseille’s goal, but also press quickly and force long balls if they didn’t come out with possession.
Attacking Throw-In’s

23. Defending Throw-In’s
• Simeone’s team had great success with these situations; the below
example was scenario that led to Atletico’s 2nd goal- a counter
attack after winning the 2nd ball from Marseille’s throw.
• Costa would mark the nearside CB, not allowing attempt to build
possession.
• The rest of the team would squeeze across and provide numerical
superiority around the ball.

25. Conclusion
• Atletico pressed high to stop Marseille from creating phases of established possession. Marseille
were unable to get the ball to their attacking players who are good in 1v1 situations.
• When they pressed the ball there was tight man marking of the central midfielders which forced
long balls.
• Costa’s positioning was important, making it impossible to build up play down the right hand side
of Marseille. This allowed Atletico to control the game by dictating where play took place.
• Atletico demonstrated good tactical flexibility to respond to Marseille’s attempts to overload wide
areas in the 2nd half; using both CM’s (Gabi/Saul) to defend out wide whilst blocking off
backwards asses. Wide areas were an effective trap throughout the game.

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