Line-Ups
Atalanta (ATA): in-possession 3412 & out-of-possession 5212
Brescia (BRE): in-possession 4312 (midfield diamond) & out-of-possession 4312
More details on Atalanta's shape, in and out of possession, and general observations below. Note - main focus was on Atalanta so no observations on Brescia.
Atalanta Observations
In-Possession:
A frequent attacking tactic from ATA involved rotations and overloads down the flanks
The rotations involved players switching positions within their 3412 shape
The use of rotations is an attempt to disorganise BRE defensive shape and cause confusion as to which BRE players should be 'picking up' which ATA players
An example of the rotations ATA perform involves;
De Roon, the right central midfielder (RCM), dropping into the right centre back (RCB) position
Sutalo (their actual RCB) pushing higher up on the right-hand side into the right wingback (RWB) position
Castagne (the RWB) pushing higher up the pitch to BRE defensive line and outside of the BRE left back
Malinovskyi (the right forward) dropping into the pocket of space in the right half space
Below is a visual example of these rotations - all of which happen simultaneously
The reasons for the rotations of these four players is an attempt to create an overload on the right flank
De Roon dropping into the ATA back three and Sutalo pushing wider and higher up the pitch on the right touchline causes Toggegrossa a decision as whether to stay and block the centre of the pitch (which is most likely his defensive job) or go out wide to cover Sutalo - he regularly chose to stay and block the centre of the pitch
Therefore, Sutalo being free on the right touchline caused Bjarnason to jump out of his left central midfield position to go and press
This created space behind Bjarnason (between-the-lines) which Malinovskyi dropped into
Malinovskyi dropping into this space caused further issues / decisions for BRE, including;
Mangraviti (the left back) being pinned by Castagne who'd pushed up on the outside of him - so if he went to press Malinovskyi then Castagne would be left free
Chancellor (the left centre back) who if jumped out to press Malinovskyi would leave a large gap in their defensive line which could be exploited with runs in-behind by either Castagne, Zapata, Pasalic or even Sutalo
All of the above rotations and overloads would also equally occur on ATA left hand side with Djimsiti (LCB), Gosens (LWB), Tameze (LCM) and Zapata (LF)
This was just one example of the types of rotations ATA would try to execute
Other types of examples would include;
ATA forward pulling wide and then their wingback on that side rotating inside into the half space
Pasalic (central attacking midfielder) and Malinovskyi (right forward) interchanging positions
ATA aimed to work the ball / players into the wide final third areas and then look for low crosses / cut backs
ATA got a high number of players into and just outside the box, including their forwards, Pasalic, wingbacks and an occasions their wide centre backs - with their central midfielders positioned outside of the area
ATA wingbacks specifically were clearly tasked with attacking the far post when the ball was in a crossing position on the opposite side of the pitch
ATA wide centre backs on occasions would also make underlapping runs from deep - as they would likely be untracked - into the box which helped create overload situations
Another key component of ATA attacking play was Pasalic's role as a central attacking midfielder
His variation of play was key as he could a) drop deep to help create overloads in ATA build up in their own third, b) hold his central midfield position which helped pin BRE midfielders from going over to the flanks to help counter the overloads which ATA created, c) push higher centrally to occupy the BRE centre backs and also get into the box for crosses / cut backs that were created due to the overloads created on the wings
To avoid being caught via counter attacks, ATA would try to always ensure they kept three players back in their last line of defence when attacking
If ATA wide centre backs did attack then their central midfielders would provide cover
Out-of-Possession:
ATA had large spells of possession but when they did lose it they got into a 5212 shape
ATA tried to be compact without the ball and their wingbacks would get back in line with their three centre backs to make a back five
ATA would tend to get into a mid-block to draw BRE up the pitch
They would then try to win the ball in the middle third of the pitch and then attack the space BRE had vacated behind
Result
Half-Time = 4-1
Full-Time = 6-2
Thank you for reading.
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