We just had a stable lineup to work with, but in the last game we faced Celta and injured Kondogbia, an all-around midfielder who contributes a lot to both the defensive and offensive sides of the field. For Atletico Madrid, no match this season has been exactly the same. Facing the rival Betis, Atletico can't afford to make any mistakes, and this game can almost be said to be the watershed of whether Atletico can stay in the top four stably. Recently, the team is gradually getting into the right track, no matter the atmosphere or attacking state has obviously returned to the level of the beginning of the season, it depends on whether this game can be taken down in one fell swoop.
1. Adaptation of Lodi's side-midfield
2. can the de Paul defense fill the Kondogbia gap?
3. Allocation of time for offensive players
Simeone's change in Lodi's position in the last game was really refreshing, but whether or not it can only be called a surprise move is a matter of debate for the next few games. It's true that Lodi's contribution to the defensive midfield is much greater than Carrasco's, but his ability to break through on his own is much smaller than Carrasco's. Often we see Lodi's attacks being initiated by teammates' passes to him, although Simeone's arrangements of Herrera and Félix could have helped him, but he's not the only one. Although Simeone's Herrera and Félix can help him, it's doubtful that Lodi will be able to do so if Atletico is pressed in the midfield area today and needs a breakthrough from the side.
The impact of Kondogbia's absence should not need to be mentioned, as the Atletico Madrid midfielder who has run the most in recent matches, whether it is in the defensive end of the resourcefulness, ferocity, or offensive end of the ability to assist, Kondogbia can be said to be the liberation of Llorente, so that the latter does not have to rush to the first place in all the defensive rounds, because Llorente knows that there will be someone near him to help, and therefore can have more time to go up to help. Kondogbia can be said to have freed up Llorente so that he doesn't have to rush to the first position in all defensive rounds, because Llorente knows that there will be someone close to him who can help out, and therefore has more time to go up and help out with the assists. In contrast, although de Paul can do the attacking aspect as well, even more creatively, he has to ask for Llorente's help on the defensive side of the field, which is also the key to whether or not Atletico will be able to retain possession in the end of the field.
The fact that Félix has been given a start in consecutive matches also means that Simeone is gradually putting the Portuguese talent on the right track, but then look at the Atletico bench, minus Correa, Griezmann and Suárez, who are all top strikers who don't have a chance to play, and the two of them have been outstanding in the training sessions, but they are also not starting. The fact that Atletico Madrid's midfield talent is now in an explosive stage can be seen in the starting lineup, and this is also a problem that Simeone needs to think about in the near future. If several powerful strikers don't have a chance to play, will they be in a state that can't be integrated into the game?
Atletico have already announced that they will not renew Suárez's contract at the end of the season, and Griezmann's move is also unclear. It seems that Atletico are going to use Félix as the core of the team's offense after all.
As one of the most important landmark battles of the season in the race for the top four, a win is
6 points
The disparity, naturally, has the head coaches of both teams doing everything they can to take this game.
But it also makes the formations slightly different because of the injury problems of the two teams, Atletico being naturally Kondogbia as described earlier, compared to Betis that is considered to have very few injury problems.
The biggest problem for Betis is that they are still having serious injury problems with multiple fronts. Miranda and Moreno on the left side and Bellerín on the right side are also injured, leaving Sabaly as the only healthy defender, and Canales, who was banned due to a yellow card, is a big blow to Betis. The Chilean engineer, Pellegrini, was unable to mechanize his team. In the end, he had to put Guardado, a veteran, in the left back, with Paul filling in for Canales and leaving the job to Carvalho.
We could also see before the match that during the handshake between the captains of both sides, the captain sent by Bettis was actually Joaquín, a senior 40-year-old captain, so you can see how tight Bettis' manpower is.
Faced with such a big test of age, Atletico naturally will not let go of the opportunity to aggressively attack and press, despite knowing that Bettis' style of play is known for its ball control and flamboyance, and without the ball Atletico is to respond to the loss of possession with a counter-strike on the spot.
