Islam Bouafif 🇹🇳🇵🇸

1/ Lineup The biggest surprise was Olmo being benched while Fermín and Gavi started. Despite Olmo's recent struggles, I wanted him to start because regaining form in a big game like this could’ve been invaluable. I understand Flick’s preference for Gavi to provide more control...

and also help win the midfield battle but even then, Olmo could’ve started at LW and likely done everything Fermín did, but better. But overall, while I think the lineup could’ve been stronger with Olmo as CAM or LW, Gavi performed well so i don't think it was a bad lineup.

2/ The First Half Atletico started with their usual defensive style, compacting in their half and avoiding a high press. However, Flick's system changes were crucial in breaking their deep block effectively. The key change was shifting from a 4-2-3-1 to more of a 4-3-3.

Casado played as the lone pivot with Pedri and Gavi as interiors. This structure allowed for easier central progression, utilizing both Gavi and Pedri in Zone 14 instead of relying solely on a single CAM which usually leads to failure to attack centrally if Olmo is not on his day

Against Atletico's 4-4-2 defensive shape, this setup created numerical superiority centrally, we focused on trying to free Pedri by making Inigo Martinez hold the ball until De Paul (Pedri's marker) is forced to leave his position and press on Inigo, Leaving Pedri free

As Alvarez was busy marking Cubarsi while Griezmann had the job to mark Casado, so only De Paul can go up and press Inigo. In general the key to everything was freeing Pedri and getting the ball to him in a comfortable position, and from that on we rely on his creativity.

Pedri then have the choice to either find the right pass behind the defence centrally or to go wide, and that gets us to the second important change in Flick's system, which is how he adjusted how width was maintained by making both of our wingers stay wide unlike usual.

So it was Fermin who hold the width on the left while Balde underlapped. this was because we had both Gavi and Pedri occupy the zone behind the ST, unlike usual were our LW had to go central to support the CAM in that zone this time both wingers were able to stay wide.

While neither winger excels in 1v1 situations, this approach worked because they were well-supported. Raphinha combined with Gavi and Kounde, while Fermín linked with Balde and Pedri, forming effective triangles to maintain ball circulation and create chances.

Crossing was another major factor. With Raphinha and Fermín delivering from wide areas our crosses were more effective compared to relying on Balde or Kounde. This approach allowed us to not only rely on central attack but also threaten from both flanks despite Yamal's absence.

it wasn't just a great attacking display but also off the ball we saw intense counter pressing which prevented Atleti from creating any dangerous counter attacks, also the fact that both our wingers stayed wide helped Balde and Kounde leave less space behind them in transitions.

In their build-up scenarios, we used our usual pressing structure, with wingers pressing their CBs, Lewandowski and Gavi marking their pivots, and fullbacks like Balde or Kounde stepping up to press when they try to build from wide areas.

Despite Kounde being sometimes late in the pressing, Gavi and Raphinha relentless work rate compensated, ensuring perfect pressing. So it was a dominant 1st half—complete control , excellent attacking balance resulting to a lead that could've been bigger if we took our chances.

3/ The Second Half With Atletico trailing, they pressed higher and attacked more in the second half. Pedri’s brilliant press resistance on the left and Raphinha staying wide to support Kounde in the buildup were key to beating their press.

However, the team became more direct, sacrificing some control. Despite this, we continued creating chances through Raphinha and Fermín's runs, combined with Pedri’s creativity. Unfortunately, poor finishing once again cost us the chance to secure the game.

And we got punished for that as Atleti exploited Kounde's advanced positioning during high presses by pushing Alvarez wide to drag Cubarsi out of position so if Atleti manage to beat our press, Alvarez can easily outpace Cubarsi and exploit the space left by him.

While they only rarely succeeded to beat our press, it still led to a goal due to Casado's poor clearance. After their goal, they reverted to a low block again, and we regained control and we went back to attacking with the same principles we did in the first half.

Olmo’s substitution brought an even greater impact, as his creativity alongside Pedri’s made it feel like we had two playmakers unlocking Atletico's tight defense. Despite losing some width with Ferran, our central attacks improved significantly.

However, missed chances persisted, and we were punished in the dying minutes by a counterattack were both Balde and Inigo were out of position, with Balde failing to track back and mark Molina, it led to a frustrating and avoidable loss.

4/ Subs Olmo's substitution was excellent, and his impact was immediate. However, I felt Ferran should have replaced Lewy, as it was evident Lewy was contributing little to the team and Ferran is far more effective as a striker than as a LW, where he failed to make an impact.

Pau Victor could also have been a viable option, as leaving Lewy on for the full 90 minutes was unjustifiable. Similarly, Casado should have been subbed earlier. His errors in the second half were costly. While I don’t fully trust Garcia, a change was clearly needed at that point

5/ Conclusion It’s hard to fault Flick's system for this result. Performance-wise, it was one of our best games, especially given Yamal’s absence. If our attackers had been more clinical in front of goal, this would likely have been a dominant victory with a 3 or 4-goal margin.

Even though we lost and put ourselves in a tough position in the league, performing like this without Yamal is very promising and the league is still very long. If the system continues to work like this, we’ll eventually be back on the right track.

End of thread thank you for reading, like and repost if you enjoyed it and follow me for more threads like these