Alright so yesterday I decided to dig into the upcoming Atlético Madrid clash against Athletic Club. Honestly, just wanted to see if my gut feeling about the game held any water. Needed to get my hands dirty with some actual analysis, not just guesswork.
First Step: Watching Old Matches (Lots of Them!)
Grabbed my laptop, fired up La Liga archives. No shortcuts here, mate. Started watching Atleti’s last three home games, scribbling notes on a messy pad.
- Noticed how they defended like angry dogs – super tight, practically sitting near their own box.
- Saw Griezmann dropping way back, trying to kickstart plays… but sometimes he looked totally isolated.
- Felt annoyed counting how many times they just booted it long under pressure. Like, seriously?
Then switched to Athletic Bilbao. Watched their last two away trips. Man, they run. All. Game. Long. Like someone injected them with rocket fuel. Wingers charging down the flanks, midfielders barging in late… it’s constant. Made my couch seem even comfier.
Getting Stuck: Figuring Out Midfield Chaos
Tried to map out how Atleti’s midfield would handle that. Pulled out plain paper, drew little stick figures. Felt so stupid trying to guess if Koke and De Paul could actually slow down Athletic’s runners. Re-watched key moments where opponents broke Atleti’s press. Spoiler: it happened too much. Athletic could find gaps if they’re sharp. Got tangled over this for ages, maybe drank too much coffee.
The Lightbulb Moment (Maybe)
Suddenly remembered Simeone loves parking the bus against tricky sides. Came to me like a slap – he’ll likely play three centre-backs! Azpi, Savic, Hermoso probably, packing the defence. That means wingers like Riquelme or Llorente as wing-backs tracking back constantly. Brutal work for them. Knew Athletic’s chances would come from wide crosses or set pieces. Atleti? Probably just hope Griezmann or Morata pulls off a magic trick on the counter. Simple but… probably accurate. Could feel it.
Making the Call
After staring at my scribbles and smudged stick figures, here’s the call:
- Tight first half, maybe zero goals. Probably boring. Both teams afraid.
- Athletic pushes hard second half, gets a sniff. Atleti scrambles.
- Late drama or total stalemate? Leaning towards… a nasty, scrappy 1-1 draw.
Why? Atleti’s defence is strong enough to mostly hold Athletic off, but I just don’t trust their own forwards to score more than one on a super-athletic day. Unless Griezmann goes supernova… which is possible but feels unlikely. Gotta be honest though, after all that effort, I wouldn’t put money on it! These things rarely go exactly how you think.