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If you ever meet someone who doesn’t understand why defense can be fun to watch, you show them a replay of this game. Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 defeat of Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League wasn’t bathed in attacking glory. It was defined by Atletico’s ability to play Barcelona perfectly.
MSN looked SOL. Iniesta and Rakitic received the ball in meek positions and failed to do anything of note. For 54 minutes Barcelona needed to score a goal in order to advance, and for each of those 54 minutes, they did practically nothing. Rarely has having 77% of possession meant so little; ironically, such is usually the case when they lose.
Suarez struggled tonight. Photo: @ESPNFC | Twitter
Atletico Madrid were on top the entire match and the home crowd knew it. The seething mass that inhabited the Vicente Calderon would not let Atletico falter. Everytime the camera panned to the crowd you saw a passion the likes of which makes me want to give up sports writing and take up a literary pursuit in which I can learn how to accurately describe just how visceral of an experience it must have been to be in that stadium and witness that crowd.
Atletico Madrid’s defense played like the warriors possessed. They were everywhere when you least expected it, and exactly where they needed to be, when they needed to be. There is no limit to the amount of credit manager Diego Simeone and his men deserve. If there is a text book for how to shut down the “best attack in the world” Atletico wrote, read, and perfected it tonight.
Barcelona’s best chance of the game came from a decent piece of play. Luis Suarez stood up Diego Godin in the box, received the ball, and managed to turn towards goal. He got a shot off but it was mediocre and easily saved.
There was no telepathy displayed by Barcelona's attack today, not the kind they are famous for. If anything was discussed amongst the minds of the blaugrana, it concerned how little everyone knew about what to do.
Atletico scored two goals, of course. Their first one came from the wing. It was not a 20 pass move, but it was no less impressive. Atletico pressed Barcelona and won the ball yards outside of Barcelona's 18, one pass later Saul Niquez whipped in a cross with the outside of his boot and Antoine Griezmann headed it in.
With the goal Atletico had a lead they could defend, and they did so admirably. Before long Barcelona was visibly frustrated and began to lash out in unsportsmanlike ways. The game was arguably lost as soon as these break downs in discipline began, but it was truly lost when Andres Iniesta gave up a penalty in the 87th minute.
A siege on Atletico’s defense had failed yet again and Barcelona found themselves defending a counter-attack woefully outnumbered and out of position. Andres Iniesta found himself as the last line of defense – something he should never be – and took drastic measures to make sure that a pass wouldn’t get by him. Too drastic. He committed a handball and gave up a penalty. He should have been sent off, but you got the since that once the penalty was converted by Griezmann, there was no coming back for Barcelona no matter how many men they had on the pitch.
An army of geniuses couldn’t have broken down Atletico Madrid tonight. It’s a rare sight, and a rarer one still to enjoy. We are so used to glorifying the genius of attack that it can be easy to get carried away with that side of the game. Tonight, Atletico Madrid brought us back, and they did it with fire and passion and a crowd sent straight from the ranks of the fearless and the brave.
We should be so lucky to get more of the same in the semi-finals.
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