Valencia 1-1 Atletico Madrid: 5 Talking Points

#4 Atletico's midfield is menacing, but defensively deficient

Atletico's midfield left acres of space at the back

It sounds really strange when you hear Atletico and defensive shortcomings in the same breath. But the attack-minded midfield did create as many problems at the back just as the threat it imbued while going forward.

Koke and Saul were the central midfielders flanked by Thomas Lemar and Angel Correa. Now that's a really formidable attacking unit right there, but Valencia exposed it completely on the counter as it left too many spaces.

Whilst the likes of Lemar and Correa provided width down the flanks, Koke and Saul too regularly tried to get into the thick of things by pushing forward, so there was nobody to cover for the backline and that left them exposed. Valencia were helped in their cause due to this, mustering 13 shots in all.

The Rojiblancos can address the issue by deploying Rodrigo, who can be an excellent protective cover for the back four, but it demands a sacrifice - that of a forward. But given the quality that Griezmann and Costa bring upfront, Simeone cannot afford to do that and must come up with a solution before it causes further damage.