Atletico Madrid tactics: Clip of their impressive passing vs Man City

Atletico Madrid received a lot of criticism for their tactics during their 1-0 loss to Manchester City in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

Diego Simeone’s set his side up extremely defensively and failed to have a single shot during their defeat at the Etihad.

At times, the Spanish side lined up in a 5-5-0 formation as they looked to contain the Premier League side.

It didn’t exactly work as Kevin De Bruyne gave the home side a 1-0 victory to take to Spain.

The Belgian midfielder insisted it was the first time he’s seen tactics like Atleti’s.

“Teams play very defensively [against us] but today, for the first time, I see a team playing 5-5-0,” the Belgium international told TNT Sports.

“No strikers. So it’s very hard to find the spaces.”

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola admitted it will always be difficult to break down a side as defensive as Atletico Madrid.

“We sensed that they would play 5-3-2, then they adjusted and they became 5-5,” he said.

“In prehistory, today and in a hundred thousand years it is very difficult to attack a 5-5, there are no spaces.”

But is all the criticism too harsh on Atletico?

After all, do you really expect them to go toe-to-toe with arguably the best side in world football with a far bigger budget?

And now, a clip is being shared on social media that shows the Spanish side did more than just defend.

It shows them with a throw-in in the left-back position, right by their own corner flag. However, despite immense pressure from Man City, several short sharp passes later and they’re on the counter-attack.

The attack is ended by an offside flag but the clip really does show that Atleti are pretty damn good at football. To go from a throw-in by your own corner flag to a dangerous