Coming into this match on the back of an impressive win against Sevilla which robbed Real Madrid fans off their 3 star players, they were expecting a light weight performance of their team. However, what followed them for the next 90 minutes was a nightmare. Starting from that first goal which came well under 10 minutes to the last goal which came in the 2nd half, Atletico Madrid dominated in all departments of the game.
Here are 4 things that we learned from this particular fixture: –
Casillas needs to be replaced
While the talk of replacing Casillas has been ongoing since the end of World Cup 2014, last night’s game epitomized the importance of finding his replacement. Although he couldn’t have done much in the last 3 goals that Atletico scored, his howler gave Atletico Madrid a goal in the early stages of the game.
Thus, while Real Madrid have spent a lot in pursuing attacking targets, they have to spend in order to fill the void in front of their own goal.
Luka Modric is irreplaceable for Real Madrid
Although it has been over a month since Luka Modric played his last game for the Real Madrid side, yesterday’s match epitomized his importance for Real Madrid. Although the match was well over in the first half, Sami Khedira was the most dispensable player in Real Madrid shirt on Saturday.
Playing against the likes of Arda Turan and Koke, the German looked well beyond his best and duly, Real Madrid were punished. Every time Atletico Madrid made a counter attack, it made its way to the Real Madrid defense making the Real Madrid midfield to look like invisible.
As a result of his forgettable performance, Khedira was replaced with Lucas Silva on the half time. While this might have relieved the misery for the German, it prolonged the same for Real Madrid as the newcomer cannot find his mark in the big game.
Atletico Madrid back in title challenge
Coming into this match, the reigning La Liga Champions were on a 4 match winning streak in the LA Liga and this match did justice to their current form. Although they were winning matches one after the other, the form of Real Madrid forced them to play the chasing game without any respite for the most part of last 6 months.
However, courtesy to their recent scalp of their neighbors, the Vicente Calderon based side are back in the title race, just 4 points of the top spot.
2015 hasn’t been glorious for Real Madrid so far
Since managing back to back defeats at the start of 2015, the form of Real Madrid looked set to get back. However, give credit to the shrewd tactics that were employed by Simeone, that feel good factor has again vanished from the Real Madrid side.
While they can hide behind the injury factor which deprived them of 3 of their first team players, the performance level by Real Madrid was a shadow of the performances they shown in 2014.
Full Time: Atletico Madrid 4-0 Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid 4-0 Real Madrid: 4 things we learned
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