Atlético Madrid welcomed Valencia to the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano in La Liga knowing that they would need a victory to avoid a run of three back-to-back home fixtures without a win, but they failed to secure the crucial three points.
A Denis Cheryshev handball gifted a penalty to Diego Costa shortly before half-time, with his conversion constituting his first goal on home turf since November 2018. However, following an injury to João Félix which took Atlético to 10 men, Dani Parejo scored a peach of a free-kick to equalise late on. Kang-in Lee’s late dismissal meant that neither side would end the game with all 11 players on the field.
This tactical analysis of the La Liga encounter will provide analysis of the tactics of both Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid and Albert Celades’ Valencia side as they played out a 1-1 draw.
Line-ups
The biggest surprise in Simeone’s team selection was the decision to rest Kieran Trippier and Renan Lodi, instead of giving Santi Arias and Mario Hermoso starts at full-back. In attack, Félix lined up alongside Álvaro Morata and Diego Costa as Simeone kept his rotations to the backline.
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