UEFA Champions League | Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid: A battle between sturdy technicians and skillful artisans

Estadio Vicente Calderon- this name will continue to reverberate on the banks of the Manzanares as it nonchalantly flows by, blissfully ignorant of the sleek motorway or the fury of the Rojiblancos players on the pitch, when this arena will be pulled down next year as Atletico will move to the renovated Wanda Metropolitano. Around 50, 000 fans imparted their heart and soul to concrete and mortar to bring it to life every weekend and occasionally in the mid-week to light up a magical Champions League night. But, this Wednesday night was more than just special. The Calderon was hosting its last European match before finally shutting down and their opponent is their fierce cross-town rivals Real Madrid who have demolished them 3-0 just a week earlier. 

Diego Simeone has been their pied piper of Hamelin who has led Atletico to domestic glory and to the threshold of European glory twice in the last three years only to be denied silverware in the last lap. In his press conference right after the first leg he had beaten war drums that his boys will not give an inch in the return leg and will give their all for one last time at the Calderon. The match started with the intensity, ferocity and ruggedness which Atletico is known for; that surprisingly went for a toss in the first leg of the semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeau. During the first fifteen minutes it seemed that a soccer film shooting is going on with Simeone the director and Yanick Carrasco and Fernando Torres as the protagonists. Real Madrid was running about the pitch like school boys on a field trip who have no idea how to take on their super seniors. 

Attack after attack crashed on Madrid's defense and Keylor Navas had to fend away a goal-ward shot at his near post just when the heat started to simmer at the 'cauldron'. Koke and Gabi was marshalling the mid-field with Saul, Griezmann, Torres and Carrasco formed a attacking quadruple tearing up any defensive resistance built by Madrid. When Madrid got on the ball, Koke and Gabi, ably supported by Saul and Carrasco attacked the ball like Dracula smelling blood. Casemiro, the defensive guardian of Madrid mid-field snatched some balls bu after getting them knew not what to do with it. During the first goal, Saul made a diagonal run from the centre of the six-yard box to the first post rose the highest and thundered in a header beyond Navas' reach. Sergio Ramos along with Cristiano Ronaldo who are considered to be the best in the air stood like frost bitten eskimos when Saul came, headed and scored the opener on the 12th minute.  

Simeone on the sidelines was urging the fans to turn the decibel higher such that even the trophy cabinet at the Bernabeau received a jolt. The fans responded, so did his team. Within four minutes, Raphael Varane was at his wits end to stop Torres from taking a shot and in his attempt to thwart the Spaniard he committed a copybook foul inside the penalty box, which left no other option to the referee Cunyet Cakir but to point to the spot. Griezmann stepped up to find his redemption, as he missed from a similar distance in Milan not even a year ago in a Champions League final. This time he managed to score but in the scrappiest manner possible as he slipped while taking the spot-kick and debates are still going on whether the ball clipped his other foot before piercing the net. Two goals went in within four minutes and Jose Angel Sanchez might have received a text from Florentino Perez to contact Manchester United for De Gea. 

Ronaldo was seen shaking his head in disbelief while Simeone on the sidelines was instructing his players that they have given their hearts and now its time to use the brain to go for the kill. This changed the complexion of the match. Call it turning point or what you may, this move allowed Madrid to get a foot-hold and see some more time with the ball. It is not rocket science to understand that a team cannot maintain that pressure cooker condition throughout the 90 minutes and it was a matter of time and goals when Atletico would put their foot off the pedal. It was no less than shocking and eve more puzzling to find Atletico in spite of getting hold of Madrid by the scruff of the collar, they let it go so soon after netting twice within the first sixteen minutes. 

Modric and Kroos was operating deep in the flanks with Isco roaming in front of them. After they got some breathing space the midfield trio started to inter change positions which became nothing short of a musical chair. Atletico's primary occupation became not to let in a goal and hit back on the counter with Carrasco and Griezmann providing steam to the counter attacks set on stove by Koke or Gabi. Madrid took around ten minutes to settle down and after the 25th minute they started to boss the game. There was no steady linkage with the two players up front with the mid-field even whe Isco played on top of the diamond. Atletico's rigid triangle in the mid-field cut off the supply line for the opening half leaving Ronaldo and Benzema thirsty for something to work with. Madrid was still able to cover more space as Kroos and Modric stretched the field horizontally as far as they could. The spaces between midfield and attack reduced as Ronaldo again started operating from the left increasing the number of bodies in the attacking midfield space while Benzema kept Godin and Savic engaged in the attacking third. What Madrid did to perfection was shuffling their position both in the mid-field and attack and this was possible only because of the gallons of quality they have in their ranks.

Madrid was already calling the shots and they needed a goal before going inside the tunnel to smother out any fairy tale comeback for Atletico. Once again it was Ronaldo who kick-started tge move by releasing Benzema with a quick throw-in not waiting for Marcelo to come walking to do his routine duty. The Big Cat was looking good but not razor sharp to draw that piece of art on the touchline. It was an example of logic defying ball control with stratospheric confidence on oneself. He drew on three defenders and still showed his heels to every one of them working with some millimeters of space, before cutting back to Kroos who was waiting at the edge of the penalty area to bullet in a shot at Oblak's goal. Isco, was present at the right place at the right time to hit it home on the rebound. Benzema had a wonderful evening once again, but what was Godin doing during the goal? Benzema took the ball from the sidelines and already two Atletico shirts have surrounded him. Godin comes needlessly running from his centre back position to snatch it from big Benz. He takes three of them on and Godin is a mere spectator. If he had used his 'brain' just as his manager instructed after the second goal, he might have been there to clear the rebound. Apart from the goal, Isco was all over the pitch. He played as CDM along with Kroos and Modric during the early onslaught, he provided the link between midfield and attack, and even positioned himself as a centre forward when Madrid needed the vital away goal. 

It was poetry in motion to watch Modric breeze past mostly two or sometimes even three red and white shirts in the midfield before delivering an inch perfect ball in the attacking third. Modric and Isco has a natural talent to retain the ball coupled with the ability to move with guile and agility to create penetrating balls for the forwards. Modric had seven successful take-ons, five interceptions, just five misplaced passes and uncountable moments of individual brilliance both on and off the ball to set the tempo in the second half. His performance off the ball was equally impressive as he has a sublime sense of positioning. He blocked passing channels made tackles at the right moment and redistributed the ball to a team mate in space. Kroos and Modric combined attempted 150 passes and completed 142 of them. Now Is there any iota of doubt left, which team dominated the mid-field?

Keylor Navas made amends of his failure to save the spot kick by making a double save. Danilo was brushed aside by Carrasco and then he fired a venomous shot towards Navas. He stopped the attempt but the rebound fell on to the head of Kevin Gameiro. Navas showed an exemplary reaction to the rebound and parried it away for a corner. Gameiro had an open net from six yards and had all the time in the world to place it in one corner, but he chose to hit within the range of the Costa-Rican. A miss of epic proportion; if that had gone in Atletico might have found their squandered momentum.But the question is, what was Danilo doing when Carrasco broke ranks? The Brazilian jostled with Carrasco only to be patted down as the Belgian surged forward with pace and power. It is beyond comprehension why Zidane opted for Danilo rather than Nacho. Nacho is faster, physically superior than Danilo and to tame a raging Atletico side he would have been the perfect fit.But did Navas do enough to secure his place next season as the first choice? The answer would have been yes, if he dawned the colours of any other European giant but Madrid. Each mistake is counted heavily at the Bernabeau and the other important factor that is considered is how much is the player marketable? De Gea will march ahead in both these parameters. The Manchester United player's goalkeeping attributes is beyond question and since he hails from Spain itself it is another bonus for Madrid's marketing ambitions. If the move materializes then it would be considered as another Galactico signing, which is bound make ripples worldwide.

Atletico had a fall from Eden after the hallowed 20 minutes and they went back to running after every Los Blancos player with the ball, with only one motif: SNATCH. They snatched it sometimes, but most of the time was either beaten by skill or committed a foul. Two or three shirts teemed up to 'snatch' which left other spaces vacant to be exploited. Atletico ran for 113.1 km throughout the match whereas, Madrid clocked only 103.4 km. Despite running all over the pitch, they completed just 219 passes with a success rate of a mere 70%. Madrid on the other hand had 493 successful passes with a completion rate of 86%. 

After the match, Nacho was seen planting a Real Madrid flag at the Calderon. If we go down memory lane, back in 2014, Griezmann did something similar after Atletico humiliated Madrid by beating 0-2 at the Bernabeau. Returning the favour? Might be!