The May 28th final match of European Cup will host the repeat of newly decorated all-Spanish final and is the battle to underline the most dramatic storyline of national rivalry in the recent days, Real Madrid vs Atletico De Madrid. both sides emerged victorious after second leg of semi-final on Tuesday and Wednesday nights against their strong opponents in a highly pulsating and arguably intense fashion to repeat the memory of 2014 final duel. the incredible journey of Atletico and their coach Diego Simeone ultimately defines the most glorious chapter of establishing global legacy and symbolizing the iconic achievement to change the identity of European football in the history of club competition. the Spanish side continued their truly inspirational campaign by pulling yet another massive upset to knock out one of the tournament’s favorite Bayern Munich relatively in the same way they eliminated Barcelona in the previous stage as we mentioned in the last article. Simeone’s Atletico without a doubt would subject themselves to the most productive and successful side in this competition after crushing two of the best favorites on their way to this surprising final as they fairly enough earned a long-lasting reputation to make the history and deservedly be the one to crown the title. on the other side Real Madrid also cruised to their second final in the last three years after some virtually breath-taking and critical season on their own in nevertheless positive vision for earning a 1-0 aggregate win against Manchester City at Santiago Bernabeu. participating in the final surely would indicate as the major achievement for Zidan, who took charge during Madrid’s struggling spell of this season and within a six months he entirely rejuvenated them to a fierce and legit contender and now is on the brink of joining the chapter of coaching legends if manages to win the final.
Atletico went to Alianz Arena at the back of their crucial first leg 1-0 win against all-around Bayern’s attacking prong and experienced the most intense and complicated duel they ever had in this tournament. Pep Guardiola lined up his most lethal attacking formation with fierce determination and superbly high tempo as it was expected to fight Atletico’s emphatically solid, effective and intelligent pressing and defensive organization and Germans started their firework from very early spell, clearly signaling the massive waves on the way to storm the night, a one way traffic in the most distinguishable duel of contrast and desire in terms of style and result, a team with the most desirable attacking potency against a side designed and developed with absolute dedication and through their unbreakable barriers to defend and resist the defeat. Frank Ribery and Costa deployed on the flanks to ignite Bayern Munich vital high tempo attack in reliance of a fearsome speed and constant flair to create movements in the heart of Pep’s dominant attack against the formidable back line of visitors, which was commanded by sensational captain Diego Godin in cohesive central partnership of confident Juan Fran, while being combatively boosted with agile and energetic full backs, Philipe Luis and Jose Jimenez to shield an ultra resilient defensive unite, promising enough to freeze and block every possible inch of open zone against Bayern players and they even in some occasions had shown no hesitation to order their central midfielders compromising to deepest drop into back line to control the devastating pace of Bayern attack with such commitment and willingness, Gabi and Augusto Fernandez most often handled that touch task, offering least chunk of spaces for Koke in front of them to switch in a forward ball to counter, the effort that seemed to be considerd as survival option under Bayern’s unstoppable pressure for the first 30 minutes into the first half. Ribbery and Costa effortlessly splashed several explosive runs on the flanks to raid high up the pitch as much they could, relying highly on superior ability of Vidal and Alonso to engineer the passing transition from deep spaces when linking up with their wingers with aim of offering free spaces for Ribbery and Costa across both Jimenez and Philipe Luis whom preferred to monitor wide spaces and pinching inside quickly to prevent Bayern attack the vital chance to drift inside and forming the break-through interchanging plays; the approach proved to be purposeful in tracking every single trick from Ribbery, Costa and Muller in the final third. with Alonso and Vidal orchestrating the integral point of play in off the ball pressing and quick break-away opening, they eagerly participated to apply their dual role as deep holding passers shifting into lying play-makers, one joining advance and the other moving outwards, significantly centralized Bayern Munich intent of dictating the pace of attack with three joined midfielders two wingers and one central force shaping some often fluid interchanging passes to exploit Atletico’s defense, but the strategy mainly remained challenging for Pep as his men continuously switching the diagonal and series of short range of passes over the flanks for Ribbery to create neat movements, while Costa had more ambitious to combine with Philip Lam overlaps and engaging Muller in the middle to trigger neat interplay moves. their pressure slowly had shaken their opponent’s defense and entirely disjoined them from desirable counter attack to supply Griezmann and Saul Niguez, neither would have touch the ball to their feet for the entire first half. Ribbery flying run on the left allowed him to wave off Juan Fran before his cross was headed by Lewandowski over the bar. two minutes later Costa slick combination play with Lahm on the right opened a central run for Vidal off the Lahm play, but his shot deflected midway through and saved by Oblak. Alaba and Lahm bursting forward for more effective overlap plays and it rewarded them the opener after Alaba’s attempted run on the edge of box blocked by Godin, Xabi Alonso smashed his low-range shot that deflected off the Jimenez through the wall and redirected into the near post to beat Oblak to spark wild celebration on the bench. it looked Bayern would sword their winning stamp when they earned penalty three minutes later. C0sta send in a corner into the box which caused Jimenez to tuck down Xabi Martinez and it was pointed to the spot, with all the eyes to Muller to wrapped the contest, his shot was perfectly saved by Oblak as he dived to his right and denied host a crucial winning momentum they highly needed to seal the tie. that scene significantly boosted Atletico with better psychological advantage going into the second half and the introduction of Carrasco appeared to highlight Simeone’s strong decision making ability as the visitors inspired to initiate some passing exchanges from deep with vital link up plays to Griezmann and Torres and setting them to move upfield more freely and they soon equalized. off the press, Koke and Saul exchanged a fine play before Niguez dinked a pint-point cross over the line as Griezmann nipped a header to set Torres while running behind the Bayern defense and Spanish man delightfully combined with his slice pass left the French man all the way through up against Manuel Neuer as Griezmann fired his accurate left footed shot into the bottom corner and suddenly inspired Atletico to most dramatic change of scenario and dropped the ball on the Pep’s Bayern, nearly vanishing their blissful dominant performance and replaced it with fever of elimination. Bayern players desperately moved the ball around to quickest touch across the midfield with the most furious intent of exploding a moment of break-through as Alonso and Vidal entirely shifted out of deep positions to join their attackers through constant inch short passing build up and high tempo wide combinations all over Atletico’s box. Ribery continued his delicate skills and dazzling runs out of wide to central channels with slick interchanges and crosses, the most alarming element of Bayern’s hope to produce magic towards the end and soon it appeared to be a possibility when they took the lead. the French man flying with speed on the left and timed with Alaba’s overlap as his brilliant inswing cross allowed Vidal to flick a powerful header at the far post towards Lewandowski and the striker easily fired his header into the net. it demanded them to score another goal in order to win the aggregate and the raid of fearsome attacking balls over Atletico’s defense signaled the most heated moment of glory, yet the visitors defended with full enthusiasm and to their teeth in denying Germans achieving their objectives. another fine ball on the right allowed Lamp to send in a cross that shortly cleared but Alaba long range attempt on the rebound deflected off the wall and saved by Oblak. in the 82 minutes, Ribery exchanged a series of short passes with Alonso and Vidal before hooking it into his path and lifting the ball through tiny spaces of defense for Lewandowski to smash his shot but Oblak reflected sharply to save it at his right. Bayern’s overwhelming series of devastating through balls to break Atletico’s fully resilient and dedicated defense, ultimately proved a fraction short of winning goal and Diego Simeone executed his sheer coaching genius to secure Atletico Madrid the final stage in Milan to repeat a pulsating 2014 duel against their fierece rival Real and ended Bayern and Guardiola long-lasting dream of continental glory, in the last season of Spanish man coaching tenure.
Atlectico Verdict: they incredibly provided the most committed and enthusiastic tactical glimpse of sensational defensive resiliency, which had defined and marshalled through their stabilized and precise pressing movements across the midfield all over their defense zone, limiting Bayern’s pivotal flash of finishing aspiration as German’s break-through penetration play struggled to the maximum. Atletico’s defenders were fully supported by their central midfielders off the ball and their timely communication to make transition off the press in going forward witnessed its crucial eagerness to spark flashy moments in courtesy of Griezmann and Torres ultimately. the extraordinary high tempo attacks of Bayern might have lifted them significantly as the superior side with possession and style, but on the other side of spectrum it deeply would admired the constant mobility of visitors in maintaining their good tactical shape and moreover; for being eagerly adapted to control the balance of this duel, centralizing on a combative plan to prevent Bayern’s masterful attacking philosophy from hitting a killing punch and equally rewarded their own defensive work of art strategy which ultimately had proved the result of this observation.
Bayern Munich: it was a problematic European challenge with false dream of glory to be left for Beyern and Pep unfortunately once again. on his third and last season in charge as Bavarian coach, the notorious perfectionist Spaniard has tremendously developed far-reaching project of tactical renovation in terms of style and mentality, while sincerely amplified an intangible structural direction to transform pattern of German Champions identity from a side with constructively reliable and combative dynamic approach to a highly complex tactical mechanism, concentrating on a dual spectrum of solidifying the collective attitude of being involved in an extreme context of possession domination as the asset prize of new identity, but on the flip side Bayern became an strategically compromised unit for shaking up some old defensive priorities in a huge favor of Pep’s interactive beautiful football, indeed over time apparently being exposed harshly against tope players and teams in the major European competitions and as a consequence their ultimate faith with a shto at glory repeatedly was hammered on the brink of reaching the final. the defeat has many details of argument to judge how it affected Bayern and Guardiola at the end, meanwhile the outcome will eventually rise the challenging views of his critic over his achievement during his spell as Bayern coach. one of the most critical factors of Bavarian’s elimination on technical stand point refers to having Arijen Robben being missed out due to injury over course of semi-final two legs. Robben is a super star and gifted attacking force in Bayern side over nearly past decade and his incredible storyline to club’s most successful season is undeniable. when facing a team with amazing defensive organization and wonderful pressing approach like Atletico, the presence of super flashy and creative player like Robben would be arguably the ultimate solution for Bayern to find a winning way and breaking through their visitors. his dazzling and crafty movements on the flanks with blistering pace and skillful trademarks in dribbling defenders, while dynamically switching the transition play across the midfield to break opponents through constant change of tempo and timely runs have recognized him possibly as the world’s best winger in recent years and it always proved to be the reason behind club’s trophy cabinet era. with him raiding on both side of flanks and even being deployed as auxiliary winger to interchange neat passes with Ribery, Muller and Lewandowski as an orchestrator in the front three striker formation or as a play-maker behind them, the rhythm of Bayern’s attack sparks further precision and intensity to break opponent’s press and allow their central midfielders to occupy better spaces in deeper role to coordinate the change of game when having possession, while the likes of Alonso, Alcantra and Martinez would be highly dedicated more commanding involvement in controlling the pace of transition to provide reliable pressing and their timing off the ball on the both end of joining attack and defending. that type of commanding performance indicates Bayern’s major game-winning approach to clinch their long-lasting success and legacy and regaining their trophy-laden aspiration in all front and will be highly depending on unique technical characteristic of Robben and his extraordinary sheer individual instincts of world class player in characteristics of Robber and even after Pep exit, this fact will remain as an ultimately strategy generate fluid movements and winning in most cases. the story of Bayern and Pep Guardiola’s dream of European cup is now over as both party will be apart, but some storyline will be remain so crucial and essential for Bayern in the future.
