Real Madrid won a thrilling victory over Atletico: “Old fox” Ancelotti and the fateful slip

The sharpness of Diego Simeone…

After losing 1-2 at the Bernabeu, Atletico Madrid must win the second leg at home to have any chance of advancing. Meeting that condition is not easy. Real Madrid has “two F1 engines” in Mbappé and Vinícius in attack, so it is very difficult for Atletico to play an all-out attack. If Atletico Madrid loses another goal, the door to the quarterfinals will almost close for Diego Simeone and his team.

 

 

Contrary to the excitement of his students and fans, Diego Simeone was extremely calm after the opening goal.

Yet the Argentine coach still found a way to break through Real Madrid’s net. That was by attacking right after the opening whistle. It took Conor Gallagher only 27 seconds to open the scoring. Remember, it was a well-planned, well-orchestrated attack.

Simeone “junior” ran to create space for De Paul on the right wing. Atletico Madrid’s number 22 continued to play the role of “decoy” in the cross situation for Gallagher to rush in and finish. Of course, the move was somewhat lucky but Diego Simeone’s mark cannot be denied.

The Argentine coach usually has emotional celebrations, but not this time. In contrast to the enthusiasm of his students and the Metropolitano stadium, “El Cholo” was extremely calm and signaled his students to calm down. This was not a moment of arrogance. Diego Simeone understood that his team had only met the necessary conditions.

Atletico Madrid needed another goal to advance, but first, they had to not concede. That’s why the home team retreated to defend after this goal. They understood the danger of Real Madrid, so they set up three layers of defense in front of Oblak’s goal. This was a very correct decision by Simeone, but on the other side of the battle line, there was also an “old fox” on the coaching bench. That was Carlo Ancelotti.

…still lost to “Old Fox” Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti is considered the most successful coach in the history of the Champions League with 5 championships, including 3 times with Real Madrid. The Italian coach is very familiar with being under pressure. Therefore, Atletico’s first-minute attack did not shake him. Real Madrid still played very calmly and slowly.

“Old fox” Ancelotti shows the mettle of a coach who has won the Champions League 5 times

Ancelotti “figured out” Simeone’s tactics when he asked his players not to rush to speed up. When it comes to defensive coaching, Diego Simeone deserves to be one of the best coaches. If Real Madrid rush to speed up continuously, they will fall into Atletico Madrid’s trap.

Reality proved it. Despite defending deep in the final two-thirds of the pitch, Atletico were always ready to counterattack. If Courtois had not played so well, Real Madrid could have conceded another goal in the first half.

So why is Ancelotti in no hurry? That is because Atletico cannot play deep defense forever, they will have to open up to find the next goal. Taking the match to extra time or penalties would be extremely risky. Ancelotti is very experienced in this matter. The Italian coach replaced Vazquez and Camavinga on the field in the 65th minute when he saw the opportunity.

Three minutes later, Real Madrid had their first counter-attack after Camavinga dispossessed the ball and Mbappé won a penalty with a clever dribble. It was a perfect opportunity for the “White Vultures” to equalize and Atletico fell into a difficult situation. Ancelotti’s ability to read the game is truly excellent, but sometimes man’s plan cannot overcome “God’s plan”. Vinícius sent the ball straight into the stands from 11m.

The Brazilian striker continued to show why he could not receive the “Golden Ball”. Vinícius still played with too much emotion. Since the missed shot, the match was considered over for Real Madrid’s number 7. Ancelotti tried to keep Vinícius until the 116th minute, but the Italian coach also quickly directed the ball to the right wing. That showed that Ancelotti understood his student very well.

Also after this missed penalty, the Italian coach understood that the match needed a penalty shootout to decide. That was the reason Real Madrid were not too keen on attacking in the 30 minutes of extra time. Ancelotti was confident in going into the penalty shootout because Courtois performed extremely well in the match. On the other side, Oblak was not far behind.

The fateful slip and luck of “The White Vulture”

Penalty shootouts involving Real Madrid are always tense and exciting. However, the surprise came from an unexpected name, Julian Alvarez. Players from Argentina are often called “penalty takers”. However, Atletico’s number 19 failed to successfully execute his penalty kick.

Alvarez’s fatal slip

To Alvarez’s chagrin, the ball went into the net, but the goal was disallowed because he missed the post and touched the ball twice. Celebration, then disappointment were the feelings of the Argentine striker. Jan Oblak made amends for his teammate by successfully blocking Vazquez’s shot. However, luck continued to turn against Atletico when Llorente hit the crossbar.

Luck continued to be on Real Madrid’s side in the final kick. Rudiger failed to fool Oblak. The goalkeeper pushed the ball away but somehow it still crossed the line and the victory went to the “White Vultures”. The 120 minutes of suspense finally ended. Both coaches had a tense battle of wits. Simeone was also good, but Ancelotti was more courageous. In the end, luck was still on the winner’s side.