Why we need a clash of styles
O THE light is most beautiful set against the shade. In recent years, football has become more and more accustomed to the orthodoxy of elegant expression in the sport and the aesthetic hegemony of the great Barcelona sides that had Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta at their core and, more recently, the Manchester City team fashioned by Pep Guardiola, the Liverpool side moulded by Jurgen Klopp and the intoxicating blur of movement instilled by Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United.
In the context of their ideological dominance, there was something refreshing about the unashamedly iconoclastic approach adopted by Atletico Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final second leg against City on Wednesday. Marshalled by Diego Simeone, there was something wonderfully ugly about their old-school mix of intimidation, muscularity, petulance and hysteria.
Atletico have supremely skilful players, too, of course, most notably Antoine Griezmann, but who would have thought we would have felt nostalgia for the days when a kind of thuggery was more widely accepted as part of the game?
Maybe it was partly because we wanted to see how City would hold up under a barrage like that but it was also partly because there is a swathe of supporters who have mourned the passing of some of the more traditional elements of the game. How often do we hear old professionals protest that ‘the game’s gone’ when a player is punished for what would once have been deemed a fine tackle?
For all the applause we reserve for City’s intricate passing moves, anyone who watches football live will know that the biggest cheers at a match are reserved for a thundering, and fair, challenge.
There is, increasingly, a fear that that physical side of the game is being outlawed, or at least phased out and that football is becoming more one-dimensional because of it. Atletico’s tactics — and the way City responded — were a reminder of how exciting a clash of styles can be. The fact that City just about withstood the mental and physical onslaught and infuriated their opponents with their ability to meet fire with fire, brought Guardiola’s side more credit than a comfortable win over a team that might have tried to match their creativity.
Guardiola is about control as well as creativity and the fact his side withstood Simeone’s attempt to disrupt that control bodes well for their chances of winning the Champions League for the first time in their history this season. If they can survive Atletico, it is tempting to think they can survive anything.