Hansi Flick v Diego Simeone: A clash of styles

The German and the Argentinian will face off in LALIGA EA SPORTS for the first time, although it’s their third meeting in total.

FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid will face off this Saturday December 21st at 21:00 CET at the Estadi Olímpic, and it’ll be a fascinating encounter as they battle for top spot in LALIGA EA SPORTS. It has been a very tight title race so far and both these sides enter this matchday level on points, looking to earn a statement victory this weekend.

There will be several duels to watch in the match and one of the most interesting will be fought on the benches. These are two teams with clear leaders in the dugouts, in Hansi Flick and Diego Simeone. Both sides play with a clear style, and this match pits the highest-scoring team in the championship against the team to have conceded the fewest goals.

TWO CONTRASTING STYLES OF PLAY

Both Flick and Simeone have very different ways of understanding football, although they do boast some similarities. These are two coaches who like to attack vertically and with speed, looking for the opposition’s spaces. The big difference between the two teams is in the way they defend, with FC Barcelona always going forward but with Los Rojiblancos preferring to sit closer to their area in a more orderly way, closing off the spaces so that the opposition can’t get the ball inside and create danger.

FC Barcelona come into the game as the top-scoring team in the division with 50 goals scored in 18 matches, which is practically an average of three goals per game. They look for the opposition goal by probing with Dani Olmo and Pedri, by moving opposition defenders around and by getting the ball to their talented front three of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski. They also play a high defensive line, with Marc Casadó pressing and with the centre-backs looking to catch the opposing forwards offside.

Meanwhile, Atlético de Madrid are, along with Real Sociedad, the LALIGA EA SPORTS team with the best goals-against record, with 11 goals conceded in 17 games, equivalent to 0.65 per game, highlighting the solidity of Los Rojiblancos. The Argentinian coach has made some changes to his system this season and his back line is more organised, with the defenders supporting the wingers in two well-defined lines of four. The introductions of Clement Lenglet and Javi Galán at the back, and of Giuliano Simeone to help in attack and defence, have made Atleti better able to halt opposition attacks.

THE THIRD MEETING OF THESE COACHES BUT THE FIRST IN LALIGA EA SPORTS

Flick and Simeone met in the 2020/21 Champions League in the group stage, where Flick’s Bayern Munich won one of the matches and where those two clubs drew the other. The first meeting was at the Allianz Arena, where the German side ran out convincing 4-0 winners over Simeone’s charges. In the return match at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, it was a 1-1 draw in a game where Atlético de Madrid were battling to go through against an already-qualified Bayern Munich.

In this third duel, their two teams are very evenly matched and will be looking for the three points on offer. Simeone has praised Flick in recent weeks, saying that he likes Barça’s style of play and that they are one of the best teams in Europe at the moment. The stakes are high and first place in the table is up for grabs. This really should be an entertaining spectacle in Barcelona on Saturday night.