#4 Atletico Madrid’s defence is beatable
Right from the time Diego Simeone took over the reins at the Vicente Calderon, Atletico have been an extremely tough side to score against. They have been a resolute defensive team under his tenure, with their propensity to harass lone strikers and keep goalscoring chances at a premium for the length of entire games.
On derby day, however, they were not able to exude the same unbeatable aura for any length of time. Real had the momentum from the early stages of the game, and they kept testing Atletico’s defenders all night long with their superior linkup play.
Atletico’s defence was at fault for the first 2 goals conceded – the first goal was deflected off a player in Atletico’s wall, while the second goal was the result of a calamitous tackle from Stefan Savic.
It was one of those rare nights when Simeone’s side have been exposed severely. Only Barcelona have consistently been able to score 2 or more goals past the Rojiblancos, who are now 9 points behind their city rivals and decidedly on the backfoot in the La Liga title race.
