Atletico Madrid won the first leg of their Champions League clash against Juventus 2-0 showing great potential to be one of the finalists this season. The Italian team couldn’t react properly to what is usually their strength – outstanding defensive actions – and failed to provide the expected performance.
Being defensively outplayed is not something common for the Serie A champions, but up against Atleti they should’ve been better prepared. As relative underdogs Los Rojiblancos had the perfect plan of mixing their defensive stability with strong build-up play which caused problems in areas that Juve weren’t expecting.
Massimiliano Allegri fell into his own trap as he didn’t have a plan B and continuously pushed the team to the same mistakes as a result of his tactical decisions. On the other side, Diego Simeone looked more than prepared for the clash as his team performed a Champions League masterclass, especially against one of the favourites in Juventus.
Is Bianconeri’s defeat a result of the lack of a real competitor and therefore adequate preparation in Serie A, or did Atletico Madrid just show their true colours and are currently the better team?
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