Chapter 425
Because of the experience against Valladolid, even against Osasuna, who only scored three points in the first five league games, Diego Simeone still paid enough attention and made a very detailed tactical arrangement according to the technical and tactical characteristics of their team.
However, in order to prepare for the Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabeu on 29 September, Diego Simeone made some rotation of certain positions in the starting line-up against Osasuna on 25 September.
At left wing-back, Diego Simeone opted for Argentine player Emiliano Insúa to replace Felipe Luiz, who had started the previous six competitive matches. He then replaced captain Gabi with Raul Garcia in the midfield position, and then replaced Alda Turan in the central midfield position in the previous game with David Villa.
With the very important Madrid derby waiting for them four days later, Atletico Madrid, who had the advantage of being at home, did not attack Osasuna from the very beginning of the game, as they did in the previous game. Instead, he chose to control the ball firmly at his feet first, and then look for the right time to take advantage of Feng Quan's speed advantage and Diego Costa's header ability to launch a quick attack.
Although after 5 rounds of league games, all La Liga teams have basically figured out the offensive routines of Atletico Madrid, and have made corresponding arrangements for their technical and tactical characteristics in defense.
However, no matter how meticulous and exquisite the tactical arrangement before the game, when it comes to the real game, it still needs to rely on the strength of the players on the field as a support to really play its due effect.
Therefore, even if Osasuna know that Atletico Madrid's main attacking method is to tear apart the defense on the flanks with the speed advantage of Feng Quan's superior speed and sharp dribbling. Then Diego Costa, who served as the team's offensive fulcrum, used his strong physical advantage to create offensive opportunities for other teammates, or directly inserted into the penalty area to grab the goal.
Unfortunately, due to the obvious gap between the overall strength of the players and the opponent, the Osasuna team, which had made detailed preparations before the game, still looked very embarrassed in the face of Atletico Madrid's seemingly simple attacking routine.
In the 18th minute of the first half, after the wind that had the ball on the left side of the front court attracted the attention of the opposing two defenders, he suddenly transferred the ball laterally to the undefended area on the right side of the front field.
Juanfran took a step forward and sent a close cross into the middle of the box.
Outflanked in the middle, Diego Costa swept the ball straight into the bottom left corner of the goal after squeezing past the opposing centre-back Jordan Lotiès with the advantage of strength.
Although goalkeeper Andrés Fernández, who quickly fell to the ground, touched the football with his fingertips, it still could not change the fate of Osasuna's team to concede the first goal.
Twenty minutes later, Feng Quan was pulled to the ground on the left side of the field after getting rid of the defense of right-back Marc Bertrán and helping Atletico Madrid win a well-placed free-kick up front.
Immediately afterwards, after Koke, who took the free kick, passed the ball to the middle of the penalty area, Diego Costa, who was outflanked in the middle, rewrote the score to 2-0 with a powerful header.
Atletico Madrid, who had a two-goal lead, were a little slackened for the remainder of the first half, and on the 42nd minute of the game, opposing striker Oriol Riera took advantage of a pass error from Cork to pull a goal back into the box.
If the opponent is higher than his team, or if the opponent is significantly better than his own, Diego Simeone can definitely accept the result of the team conceding a goal or even losing the game.
However, conceding a goal because of a player's slackness is something that Diego Simeone will never tolerate.
So, after the Atletico Madrid players returned to the home team's dressing room, they were greeted by Diego Simeone's fury.
After being scolded by Diego Simeone, the Atletico Madrid players worked exceptionally hard in the second half. Even Diego Costa, who is the fulcrum of the team's attack, has repeatedly chased the opposing midfielder back to within 30 meters of his own side in defence.
As a result, Osasuna, who were already clearly underdogs, only had two chances to shoot on goal in the second half, and both were hasty long-range shots from 25 meters out of the goal.
Atletico Madrid, which was playing at home, scored two more goals in the 19th minute and 27th minute of the second half, respectively, by Feng Quan and David Villa, thus locking the final score of the game at 4-1.
As Barcelona also defeated Real Sociedad with a score of 4-1, after six rounds of La Liga, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, with 18 points, still firmly occupy the top two places in the standings. Real Madrid, with a record of 5 wins and 1 draw, is in third place with a difference of 2 points.
In terms of players' individual technical statistics, Diego Costa, who scored 8 goals with a brace in this round of the league, temporarily surpassed Messi, who scored 7 goals, to the top of the scorer list. And Cristiano Ronaldo, who also scored twice in this round of the league, ranked third in the scorer list with Feng Quan with 6 goals.
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Although Atletico Madrid have won all six games since the start of the new La Liga season, they have scored 26 goals in a crazy way, showing their extremely strong attacking ability. But ahead of the Madrid derby, not many were optimistic that they would be able to continue their winning streak at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Not only that, some Spanish media close to Real Madrid even believe that Real Madrid, which has the advantage of being at home, is at least 70% sure of winning the Madrid derby at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Then take advantage of the Madrid derby victory to continue the winning streak and move to the top of the table, and then firmly hold the top spot until the end of this season's La Liga.
In the eyes of these Spanish media, Atletico Madrid's opening six consecutive wins have a lot to do with the heroic play of Feng Quan and Diego Costa, but the most fundamental reason is that the opponents they faced in the first six rounds of the league are relatively weak.
Real Madrid, who are in third place in the standings by two points, met Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal, two strong teams in the top six of the standings, in the third and fourth rounds of the league. Real Madrid, which can still achieve 5 wins and 1 draw in such an "unfavorable" situation, naturally has a better chance of winning at its home stadium.