The psychology of Atletico Madrid's battle with their European kryptonite

The two big sides from the Spanish capital (sorry Rayo Vallecano) meet again in Europe in yet another critical match for both these sides.

These are the big games which all great players dream of. Nevermind all the big money that they can earn nowadays, the Champions League semi-final means that you are so close to making the biggest game in club football. So close that you can touch it, and yet still with one almighty hurdle to overcome, such is the quality of opponent that you will now be facing.

Over the last few years, Atletico Madrid have confounded many experts by knocking out some of the biggest names in Europe, whether it’s Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Chelsea, yet there is one team that they just can’t overcome, Real Madrid. Only one side has knocked out Atletico over the last three seasons, and that has been there cross city rivals, once in a quarter-final in 2015, and twice in agonising fashion in the final, in 2014 and 2016. Those games have been exceedingly close, and yet the winner has always been the same. Now, they play each other again, with the stakes as high as ever. 

In the last four seasons in La Liga, Atletico have only lost the one game to Real, and yet in the Champions League there has always been this barrier, perhaps psychological, that Diego Simeone’s side just can’t seem to get over.

Real have scored in every one of their last 58 games, while they have kept only one clean sheet in their last 16 outings. Atletico, on the other hand have only let in 15 goals in their last 14 games and showed against Leicester City in the previous round that they are more than comfortable and capable of doing some backs-to-the-wall defensive work. You get the feeling that if this tie is going to be high scoring, then it’ll be a third final in four years for Zinedine Zidane’s side, but if it’s quite tight and low scoring, then Atletico may well be in with a very good chance. 

What to expect from each side 

Though there is a significant gap in terms of the talent that these two teams can field (such is the array of talent in the Real squad), don’t be at all surprised that Simeone will have a plan in place to counter this threat. Furthermore, with Antoine Griezmann up front, they have one of the world’s best attackers, who is more than capable of playing on the break, if sitting back and soaking up the pressure before going on the counter attack is to be their gameplan. 

This Real side though seem to be a little different than in previous years. Zidane has tweaked and adjusted a side that still has great attacking threat, but is now capable of fighting back and stepping up to deliver when it matters. Whenever they go behind in games, as they did against Bayern Munich in the last round and against Napoli in the last 16, they turn it around and more often than not, go on to win.

It’s a side which is very reminiscent of the great Juventus team of the late 1990s that Zidane played in. Very solid, well balanced, and more than capable of taking it up a level when necessary. They have key players who have spent so long together in the same team (Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric) that they know what to do and how to win in the big games.

A tense encounter in store

Atletico will put up one hell of a test though, and the fact that the return leg will be at the Vicente Calderon, in what will be one of the final games to be played at that stadium before they move this summer, could be vital. It’ll be fascinating whichever way it goes, and the quality of play should be among the highest that you will see anywhere in Europe this season.