One of the voices of European football on talkSPORT and Sky Sports, well known for The Football Ramble podcast, an author and writer for The Guardian - and a regular contributor here at Spurs for almost 10 years - Andy Brassell continues to give his insight into our UEFA Champions League opponents as part of our '60 seconds on...' feature this season.
Next up, it's Atletico Madrid in the first leg of our Round of 16 tie at the Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday evening (8pm UK).
@andybrassell
First leg 'so, so important'
Andy: “I think the first leg of this Round of 16 tie is so, so important, mainly because Atletico are a completely different side at home than they are away - only Barcelona have won more home games than them in La Liga, and Barca have won all their home games, so that shows you where Atleti are at home, but it's more about the atmosphere, how it inspires them, how they attack the games, how positive they are and, obviously, they've got a really, really good squad at the moment. I just feel that if Spurs can come away with anything from this first leg, even maybe a narrow defeat, then it's all on for the second leg.”
The Barca example
Andy: “We saw an example of this recently with Atletico in the Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona, the fact they won the home leg 4-0, beat a really good Barcelona team 4-0, beyond their wildest dreams, really, and then they went away and tried to defend that 4-0 lead as if they were still the defensive team that they were in 2014 or 2016 - and they're not anymore. They're not the team that can defend their own penalty box – Barca won that second leg 3-0. They're just a little bit passive away from home, even against sides who they're better than - recently they only crept over the line right at the end against Oviedo, they had a draw at Levante as well - games that, if maybe they were more positive, they would be able to get a tighter grip on and just to realise that they can't just defend anymore, they're just not that team anymore. For Atleti, it's all about getting themselves a sizeable lead in this first leg.”
Evolution in the Simeone era
Andy: “The profile of the players has evolved since the beginning of the Diego Simeone era and having had to make do and mend for quite a few transfer windows, in the past two summers they've been very active, they've replenished the squad for the first time in a while and there's genuine depth there. They've strength off the bench as well. I think we've seen recently when they've rotated, there's probably 15, 16 who Simeone can really rely on, including his son, Giuliano, who's such a great tempo and culture setter, really is his father's son on the pitch - dynamic, adaptable, always involved, someone they just can't do without, really. Antoine Griezmann, on the other hand, has more of a peripheral sort of role. He's very useful off the bench, but only really off the bench nowadays. The big thing in the last week is that he's decided to stay until the end of the season because he wants to win some more silverware with Atleti before he says goodbye - he's their record goalscorer - and goes off to the MLS.”
Sørloth a threat
Andy: “The players who you’re looking at up front for Atleti are players that you might not think of because, as we said, Griezmann little bit more marginalised now. Alex Sørloth is in a really good run of form at the moment. He's the sort of physical player who, in a different lifetime - because it didn't really work for him at Crystal Palace - I think would have been a brilliant Premier League striker. He’s still pushing the elite tier of European striker, someone who can make the runs in behind and dominate in the air. So, he's someone for Spurs to watch. Giuliano Simeone contributes so much, but in terms of defence, they can be got at. I think we can maybe expect a few goals over the course of these two games, quite contrary to what people normally expect from Atletico Madrid. As I said, for Spurs, keep Atleti within shying distance at the end of the first leg, and everything, I think, is on for the second leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week (Wednesday, 8pm).”