Atletico find a way

Atletico Madrid pulled off a 1-0 win over favourites Bayern Munich in the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday night to give Pep Guardiola’s side work to do in Germany next week.

Saul Niguez’s superb first-half goal was the only one of the game and Diego Simeone’s team will go to Munich with cause for optimism that they can reach a second final in three years.

But what is it about Atletico that makes them such a tough team to beat? We pick out five factors in their ongoing success…

Defensive resilience

Some teams make football look easy and there’s a joy in that. But others can make it look hard too – for the opposition, that is. After constricting defending champions and erstwhile favourites Barcelona in the quarter-finals, Bayern Munich found it no easier.

Atletico pressed their visitors in the first half, forcing Bayern into uncharacteristic long balls, and adapted to defend the perimeter of their goal area after the break. It was yet another defensive masterclass – a 14th clean sheet in 16 home games in the Champions League.

Simeone’s side was so well drilled on Wednesday that the only Atletico player booked was goalscorer Saul, while Bayern received three yellow cards. It was controlled aggression on this occasion and Guardiola was unable to solve the Atletico conundrum.

Threat in attack

As well as being typically resilient in guarding their own goal, Atletico also produced the outstanding moment of quality on the night. Saul, a 21-year-old product of the Atletico youth system, slalomed his way through Bayern’s defence to make the …

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