World Cup Final: Germany 0:0 (1:0aet) Argentina

Germany - Argentina 0:0 (0:0),1:0 after extra time, Maracana, Rio de Janeiro

Germany suffered a blow in the warm up as Sami Khedira picked up an injury. Christopher Kramer took his place and he was the only change to the starting XI that humiliated Brazil in the semi-final.

Di Maria was still injured and Sergio Aguero, who returned in the semi-final, was only at the bench again. Alejandro Sabella named exact same XI that started against the Netherlands in the previous round. The only change was that Lavezzi played on the right and Enzo Perez from the left from the beginning. 

Starting XIs

Everything down the right

The game´s pattern was as expected in the first half. Germany dominated possession and Argentina tried to counter. They were quiet successful to get behind the Dutch through long balls towards right channel and Argentineans targeted that left back area here as well. It made sense considering Germany´s left side isn´t as good as right with Howedes playing out of position, Ozil, who doesn´t contribute much defensively (he hasn´t had much impact offensively either in this game) and Hummels, the left sided centerback, doesn´t have as much pace as Boateng on the other side. Lavezzi started on that side right from the start and Messi always positioned himself towards that flank and Argentina created couple of promising moments down that side, especially before Schurlle´s introduction after half an hour.

Argentina - attacking third passes, 1st half

Germany looked to work the ball down their right too. They were trying to get Muller/Lahm isolated, switch the ball to one of them and get other players into that area quickly to combine. Even without support, the duo combined well, managing 26 passes between them, even thought Muller played down the middle or left in the extra time. They got into to good crossing positions repeatedly down that side and some of them were really dangerous. 

Germany - crosses, 1st half

Second half and extra time

Alejandro Sabella took off Lavezzi and brought on Aguero for the second period. It might have been due to injury, but whatever the reason was, it changed Argentina´s shape into more of a 4-3-1-2 with Mascerano as a deepest midfielder, Biglia and Perez bit further up and Messi just behind the striker duo. Argentina played very directly in the opening minutes of the second half and caused Germany real problems with front trio making good runs behind their high line. It is worth to say that both, Hummels and Boateng have been superb at the back and the later made some fantastic tackles and clearances when needed. 

Boateng - clearances, whole match

It also helped to solve Argentina´s problem in the middle. In the first half, they allowed Schweinsteiger too much space and time and he dictated the play without being challenged. After the formation switch, the front three were closing the passing angles towards him, Biglia and Perez were pushing on to Kroos and Ozil (who moved in after Kramer´s departure) and centerbacks were forced to pass wide, rather than forward. Look at Schweinsteiger´s passing in the first half and the rest of the match. He completed 57 out of 60 attempted passes in the first 45 minutes and only 37 out of 44 during the remainder of the match. Consequently, Germany´s possession fell from 63% in the first half to 53% in the second half.

Schweinsteiger - passes, 1st half

Schweinsteiger - passes, 2nd half and extra time

As the game went on and teams tired, Germany started to dominate again. Most of their play was down the right, but there were some promising attacks down the left too. The decisive goal came from that side after Schurlle´s good run and cross, which Gotze managed to convert beautifully, although many would say that Romero should have done better in that situation.

Apart of the half time switch by Sabella, the substitutions didn´t change much. Palacio came on for Higuain and Gago replaced Perez for Argentina. Joachim Low had to take Kramer off after he took a heavy knock from Garay. Gotze came on for Klose for the extra time and Mertesacker replaced Ozil to help defence deal with long balls in the final minutes. 

Argentina chances

The game was decided by a superb goal by Gotze and it should be pointed out that his position was much more difficult compared to three glorious chances wasted by Argentina. They haven´t managed a single shot on target in the whole match and their shooting was dreadful. 

Argentina - shots , whole match

Howedes hit the post with a header from corner when you would expect him to score and Schurlle had couple of decent chances for Germany, but the biggest chances fell to Argentina and they should only blame themselves for not taking the lead and maybe going on to win the game.
Firstly, Higuain was given a gift by Kroos, who headed ball towards his own goal without looking and Higuain didn´t even hit the target on the volley when he had all the time in the world to beat Neuer. Messi had great 1 v 1 after great ball from Biglia, but sent his shot just wide of the post. Although it wasn´t the best angle, you would expect him to score from there. Lastly, Palacio got into 1 v 1 against Neuer after Hummels misjudged Rojo´s cross, but he didn´t control the ball properly and his chip over goalkeeper went wide.  

Conclusion

The game was as expected from the beginning with Germans dominating and Argentineans looking to counter. Both teams focused their play down their right, but none of the teams managed to create a clear chance from that side at the end. Germany deserve a credit for the way they were able to shuffle their side despite Khedira´s injury in the warm up and Kramer´s early departure. It showed how flexible their attacking players are and how well they know their game. Schurlle had a big impact as an early substitute again (similar to Champions League quarter final second leg), offering pace and danger down the left, ultimately providing assist for Gotze´s winning goal.
Sabella made a clever change during half time and Germany´s dominance wasn´t so obvious in the second half, but they were in charge in the extra time again as Argentina´s fitness levels dropped. Remember, Germany played their semi final game a day earlier and only had to play for 30 minutes, while Argentina went all the way against the Dutch.
As ever, Messi was a major talking point before the game, but similarly to the semi final, he faded away in the later stages. He was lively in the first half, causing problems with his dribbling and had a big chance early in the second half, but he simply wasn´t at his best.
Di Maria´s absence was a huge blow and it is much more difficult for Argentina to replace him than for Germany to replace any of their players.
It wasn´t the most spectacular game we´ve seen at this World Cup, but both teams created enough chances to win in after 90 minutes and Argentina could have go ahead before going behind for the first time in the whole tournament. After the goal, there wasn´t enough time and energy to find an equalizer.

The World Cup Trophy is probably in the right hands as Germany were surely the best team, especially after Lahm´s switch to his favoured right back position. They destroyed Portugal in the opening game, beat France comfortably in the quarter final, completely humiliated hosts in the semi final and their match against Ghana was one of the most entertaining games of the tournament. Their only questionable performance came in the second round against Algeria, where Manuel Neuer had to show he is not fantastic only in the box, but also outside, sweeping behind the high defensive line. They made it at least to the semi finals for the fourth consecutive World Cup and they fully deserve to finally lift the trophy! 

Highlighs: Germany 1:0aet Argentina

Argentina 0:0 (4:2p) Netherlands

Argentina - Netherlands 0:0 (0:0), 4:2pen, 09/07/14, Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

An absence of Angel Di Maria was huge setback for Argentina as there isn´t any similar player in the side. As expected, Enzo Perez was brought in to play on the right with Lavezzi starting left. Alejandro Sabella welcomed back Marcos Rojo, but Sergio Aguero was fit only for the bench. At the back, Demichelis started rather than Fernandez, while Biglia was picked ahead of Gago in the middle.

Louis van Gaal was happy to have full squad available with both Ron Vlaar and Nigel de Jong getting fit on time, although the later probably wasn´t 100% fit. Depay made way for Wijnaldum as the Dutch changed their shape a little and played with midfield three and two strikers.  

Stating XIs

Argentina´s gameplan

The game was played at slow tempo and both teams were very cautious in the early stages. However, Argentina were much more effective with their gameplan. They were really solid defensively with two banks of for and two in front, sometimes sitting deeper and sometimes pressing higher up and making life difficult for the Dutch centerbacks. Mascerano and Biglia were impressive in the middle, pressing Wijnaldum and Sneijder with great energy and both of them had trouble finding the space and receive the ball. It took Sneijder 60 minutes to collect the ball between the lines for the first time and there wasn´t many similar situations when he managed to do that. Argentina´s good shape and pressing often forced the Dutch to go all the way back to Sillessen as they simply couldn´t find the space to play passes into attacking players and most of their possession came from passing between centerbacks, wingbacks and de Jong.
When having the ball, Argentina had a clear attacking plan. Dutch centerbacks were marking tightly throughout the tournament and it wasn´t any different here. They played high line and it wasn´t surprising to see any of them following the player they were marking into deep positions and this of course, created gaps in defence. Argentina´s forward were trying to drag them out of position, creating space for other players to run into and simply knocked the ball over the defenders for runner to chase. Perez played few through balls towards Higuain, but most of the time the ball was played over defenders head, targeting the right channel. Many of them came from Mascerano, who was dropping between centerbacks and had the most freedom from midfield players. The most promising balls came when Lavezzi and Perez swapped sides and the former made good runs into that zone.

Argentina - Long Passes, 1st half

When they were unable to get behind with long ball, they were trying to work the ball towards the right flank, overloading Indi Martins and Blind. 

Argentina - Attacking third pases, 1st half

The problem was that there wasn´t enough support once they broke behind and got into crossing position. Higuain was often only player in the box as Messi was making things happen on the right side, Lavezzi being the player who got behind and attended the cross and Perez isn´t the kind of midfielder who finds himself in the opposition box too often. 

The Dutch approach

It was difficult to see any clear idea behind the way the Dutch played in the first half. It seemed like they were trying to let Argentina dictate the play and looking for a chance to counter attack, but Argentina very rarely lost the ball without leaving their defence exposed and they always managed to recover the ball quickly, but as mention earlier, they were hitting long balls into the right channel and even if they lost the ball, they had plenty of time to get back into positions. Argentina´s defensive organization was superb and the Dutch attacking players couldn´t get into the game. Sneijder was very quiet, van Persie received the ball with his back to goal most of the time and their inability to find their forwards was most obvious in the case of Robben. 

Robben - passes received, 1st half

Argentina´s good pressing and organization often forced them to go long, but neither van Persie, nor Robben could get the better of Argentina´s centerbacks and it´s hard to remember them winning a header or holding the ball effectively.

Netherlands - long passes

Defensively, they were much better. Argentina caused them problems with their long balls and attacks down the right, but they always managed to cover the box and clear the ball or block the cross. Ron Vlaar was absolutely superb at the back, winning headers, making 4 tackles, 6 interceptions and 12 clearances. 

Vlaar - Clearances

De Jong did a good job on Messi, who had to go deeper than usual to get on the ball and most of his passes were short ones. Look at the difference between his influence in this game and the previous game against Switzerland. He was pressed by Inler and Behrami, but the Swiss defence was much deeper so he was still able to get on the ball, ultimately providing assist for Di Maria´s goal. In this game, there was much less space in the middle and between the lines and Argentina looked to play long balls over the top, skipping 

Messi. 

Messi - attempted passes

To compare his positioning from previous game.

Messi - passes received

Screen from the game against Switzerland

Messi - passes received , Argentina vs Switzerland

However, when he got a chance, he was always trying to make things happen, dribbling past players, but he simply wasn´t as influential as we have seen in the previous games. 

Messi - take-ons

Subs

Surprisingly, managers haven´t made little tactical changes during the match with Huntelaar replacing van Persie in the extra time probably changing the most as he is pure number 9 compared to van Persie who comes towards the ball and combines with midfielders. Janmaat came on for Martins Indi. He played down the right, Blind dropped into back three and Kuyt switched sides. Clasie replaced de Jong after 60 minutes and played in his role, although he contributed more offensively.

Sabella made his first two changes after 80 minute mark and he gradually brought on Palacio for Perez, Aguero for Higuain and Maxi Rodriguez for Lavezzi. 

Second half and extra time

As the game went on and players tired, Argentina´s pressing dropped and Dutch started to find some space in the middle. They had more of the ball, but only put some serious pressure on Argentina´s defence in the last 10 minutes, with Robben getting behind the defence after he combines nicely with Kuyt and Sneijder only to have his shot blocked by fantastic last ditch tackle by Mascerano.

In the extra time, the game became really stretchy at times, but both teams looked to defend well rather than to go for a goal. The Dutch still had more of the ball, but it was Argentina who managed to create couple of promising chances and Palacio got into 1 v 1 against Sillessen, but couldn´t control the ball properly and his header was weak at the end. Messi came into life in the second period of extra time after being really quiet for long time and made a fantastic run towards the right, beating Vlaar twice, send in a good cross, but Maxi Rodriguez didn´t hit the ball properly. 

Conclusion

There haven´t been any clear cut chances in the game, with Garay´s header from corner and Robben´s blocked shot in the stoppage time probably the most promising moments. This was due to very good defensive organization of both teams. All centerbacks were solid, but the one that really stood out was Ron Vlaar, who was surely a man of the match despite of missing the penalty in the shoot-out.
Argentina pressed well and caused the Dutch problems with those long balls towards the right channel, but they couldn´t find the finishing touch. Considering the way the Dutch defended and the absence of Di Maria, it was probably the right approach.
The Dutch on the other hand, didn´t have a clear strategy how to break down Argentina´s defence, but their high defensive line and tight marking forced Messi into very deep positions and he wasn´t able to influence the game as much as usual. Their defensive approach invited long balls over the top, but they were happy to defend those situations and always had the box covered when the crosses came in.
It wasn´t surprise to see the game go all the way to the penalties as there wasn´t much between the teams and the mangers changed very little during the game. Louis van Gaal might regret that he used all of his substitutions and couldn´t bring Tim Krul on again as he might have done better than Sillessen, but with Ron Vlaar taking the first penalty, you would feel that something wasn´t right and Argentineans took full charge once he missed and will now face Germany in the final. Van Gaal later revealed that two players refused to take the first penalty!

Highlights: Argentina - Netherlands 0:0, 4:2pen

Brazil 2:1 Colombia

Brazil - Colombia 2:1 (1:0), 04/07/14, Estadio Placido Aderaldo Castelo, Fortaleza

Both managers made surprising changes in their starting Xls so Maicon played his first game at tournament the with Alves only at the bench. The main question for Scolari lied in the middle of the pitch as Luiz Gustavo was suspended. Fernandinho was always likely to start and Paulinho got the other spot in favour of Hernanes or Ramires. Hulk played on the left, Oscar on the right.
Pekerman brought Ibarbo back into the side in the place of Martinez so Colombian attack was same as in the first crucial group games. Surprisingly, Guarin started ahead of Aguilar alongside Sanchez.

Starting XIs

High tempo start

The game´s tempo was set right from the kick off – Colombia played a long ball towards Gutierez right away. Both teams committed numbers when going forward and Brazil was on top for the first half an hour and they could have been more than 1-0 up by then. The game settled down after 22 minutes when Colombia wasted a 4 v 2 counter and Brazil realised that they need to be more careful.
Brazil´s goal came after good corner from Neymar and poor marking by Sanchez who was caught ball watching and Silva managed to guide the ball into the net at far post. Colombia were a bit unlucky though, as two of their players went for a header and none of them connected with it and the ball fell into the path of Silva.
Brazil put some serious pressure on Colombia´s back line with some good passing and long diagonals towards Hulk with Marcelo supporting him. Hulk had couple of decent chances during that period, but his shooting was poor and Ospina made a great save to keep out his only dangerous effort. 

Hulk - shots, 1st half

Stopping James

Brazil´s plan to stop Colombia´s star player was obvious. Fernandinho sat in front of the back four and closed him down as soon as the ball was played into him. He made couple of bookable fouls on James, but none of them were awarded with a yellow card - we will get to that later. 

Fernandinho - fouls committed

Fernandinho - tackles

Despite being tightly marked and fouled 4! times in the first half, he managed to create a couple of promising moments for Colombia, the 4 v 2 counter attack, when he managed to turn around and avoid two challenges before playing Cuadrado into the box, the best moment. However, Colombia couldn´t get him on the ball as often as usual and their best attacking moments came down the flanks with Guarin and Armero sending in few dangerous crosses.

James - passes received 1st half

James - fouls suffered 1st half

Second half and subs

Jose Pekerman made a clever change going into the second half with Ramos coming on for ineffective Ibarbo. He went upfront alongside Gutierez and James moved to the left, where he got more room than in the middle and Colombia looked more like a 4-2-2-2.
However, second half started much slower than the first one and it took about 15 minutes until things started to happen again. Colombia had a goal disallowed for offside before Luiz stuck in beautiful free kick from range. Carlos Bacca replaced Gutierez up front right away and James started to be more central again. Brazil´s last chance of the game fell to Neymar, who found a little space on the edge of the box and curled his left footed shot just wide of the post.
Brazil became incredibly nervous after going 2-0 up. There were panicking at times and simply kicking the ball out as far as possible. With 20 minutes still to go, they surely didn´t look like Brazil and Colombia could feel, that there is still a chance if they can find a contact goal from somewhere. It came from a penalty and James recorded his 6^th goal of the tournament. Spit kick was awarded for a foul by Cesar on Bacca who was sent through by who else than James Rodriguez?
Cuadrado who had a rather poor game was replaced by Quintero and he played in few good free kicks, but Brazil managed to clear them.
As mentioned before, Brazil were really nervous and couldn´t get their passes together and it was surprising to see that Scolari waited until 82^nd minute to make his first change. He made other two within the next five minutes to try to kill the game and introduced more defensive player every time. Ramires came on for Hulk, Hernanes for Paulinho and Henrique for Neymar, who was in some serious pain after Zuniga´s strong tackle.
Brazil were 4-5-1 for the last minutes of the game with Oscar and Ramires on the sides and Hernanes, Fernandinho and Henrique in the middle and prevented Colombia finding a way for that last chance to level the score line.

Referee

There have been some bad refereeing at this World Cup, with red cards being or not being shown at the right time, penalties being awarded for clear dives, but this game was completely out of the line. There have been 54! fouls and only 4 yellow cards. Cesar was booked when he took Bacca down in the box and you wouldn´t be surprised if that was a red card. Thiago Silva got book for a silly block on Ospina when he tried to start the counter after set-piece. James was booked for a slide tackle when he barely touched Hulk – Luiz scored from that free kick and Colombia´s captain Yepes was booked for protests afterwards. It is incredible to see considering the number of fouls and some of them were really worth of a yellow card. Sometimes it is good to see that referee doesn´t want to influence the game by unnecessary bookings early on etc, but in this case it would perhaps help the game and couple of booking wouldn´t even be unnecessary. Brazil was more dangerous down the left with Hulk and Marcelo combining well and Neymar´s usual runs towards the left wing. Scolari wouldn´t be happy for the attacking contribution of Fred, Oscar and Paulinho as all of them had minimum impact and they will need to improve significantly in the game against Germany if they are to play the final. Colombia had a very good tournament and especially James Rodriguez made his name. 

Conclusion

The game was very open in the early stages and Brazil took the lead through corner. Colombia were on the back foot in the first half and they should regret wasting that 4 v 2 break that could have put them level. Brazil´s plan to stop James worked from them as he wasn´t involved as much, but it would have been interesting to see how much space he would have if Fernandinho was book for one of his challenges and would have to more careful. Cuadrado had a poor game and he was losing a ball very often and Pekerman might have taken him off earlier. Colombia improved in the second half with introduction of Ramos and moving to two striker system.

Highlights: Brazil 2:1 Colombia

Argentina 0:0 (1:0 aet) Switzerland

Argentina - Switzerland 0:0 (0:0) , 1:0 aet, 01/07/14, Arena Corinthians, Sao Paolo

Sergio Aguero is out with injury so Lavezzi was brought in with rest of the side as expected. Schar was preferred to Senderos at the back in the absence of von Bergen. Ottmar Hitzfeld decided to stick with same attacking set up as against Honduras, which meant Xhaka played on right and Shaqiri in the number 10 role.

Starting XIs

Unconvincing Argentina

The game started really slowly, but the pattern of the game was clear from the start. Argentina had plenty of possession and tried to get Messi on the ball as much as possible while Switzerland sat deeper and looked to counter and create chances from set-pieces.

With Lavezzi in the side, Messi was much more central than in the previous games. Lavezzi played down the right, while Di Maria started on the left, rather than alongside Gago in the middle. They switched flanks midway through the first half, which demonstrated that Argentina were more of a 4-2-3-1 in this game. Messi couldn´t find much space and was dropping deeper to get on the ball, but he was closed down immediately by at least two players, usually both central midfielders as there wasn´t anyone else in that area. 

Messi passes received

Argentina seemed really dependable on Messi and there wasn´t any other source of creativity. Their only real treat came from crosses and set-pieces and Garay was whisker away from meeting great by Di Maria from the corner.

Switzerland were more dangerous side in the first half, despite having only 40% of the possession. First  of their two big chances came after short corner and great piece of skills by Shaqiri, who beat Rojo and played a good ball to Xhaka in the box, but his shot went right at the goalkeeper. Other big chance came on the counter and Shaqiri played Drmic through, but he failed to chip Romero who went out of his goal, then decided to come back in the last moment and he was lucky that a chip shot went right into his hands.

Second half and extra time

Argentina became even more dominant in the second half, recording 66% of possession and really held Switzerland in their own half for long periods. There wasn´t much invention though and game plan was still the same – give ball to Messi or go down the flanks. They increased the pressure as the game went on, but the end product was often poor. Best example was Di Maria´s rabona cross after 60 minutes, when he managed to beat Rodriguez for the first time on the right side and wasted a good chance to find one of the 5 teammates waiting for a cross inside the box.

Switzerland couldn´t get on the ball properly and it was all about Argentina trying to find a goal. Messi had couple of decent efforts, but most promising chances came after crosses from Rojo, Di Maria or Zabaleta, however the score line remained 0:0 after 90 minutes. 

Rojo crosses

Di Maria crosses

Game continued in the same patter in the extra time and both managers eventually used all of their substitutions, but all of them were rather strait swops and none of them seemed to change anything regarding tactics until Biglia replaced Gago for the second period of extra time. Argentina played as a 4-2-4 now with Messi right next to Higuain, Di Maria on the left and Palacio, who came on for Lavezzi earlier on the right. It all looked like there will be yet another penalty shoot-out when Palacio won the ball of Lichtsteiner on the half way line, he found Messi who avoided challenge from Schar before passing the ball to Di Maria who finished brilliantly to the far post. With 3 minutes added in the extra time there was still hope for Switzerland and Dzemaili had a golden chance to equalise from Shaqiri´s cross  following the corner, but the ball hit the post and bounced just wide of him on the rebound. The last kick of the ball was a Shaqiri´s free kick from a great area, but he shot strait into the wall. 

Conclusion

Arguably the least enjoyable game of the knock-out stage so far as Argentina failed to create clear cut chances against very solid Swiss side, who sat deep and denied space in the middle of the pitch very well. Inler and Behrami have been fantastic against Messi, closing him down quickly and forcing him to drop deep to received the ball. However, Switzerland didn´t create a real chance in the second half and extra time apart of Dzemaili´s header in the 121^st minute. Argentina deserve credit for taking the risk in the second period of extra time and playing 4 attackers high up, but the star players apart of Messi haven´t been impressive at all. Di Maria had rather disappointing game, but his persistence paid off as one of his 12 shots found the net. His energy has been absolutely fantastic, but he was wasteful when in dangerous positions and really redeemed himself by that late goal. The game proved again how important Messi is for this team and that there isn´t much creativity from other players despite real star names in the team. They will really have to step up if Argentina is to go further in this tournament!

Highlights: Argentina - Switzerland 1:0 aet

Costa Rica 1:1 (5:3p) Greece

Costa Rica - Greece 1:1 (0:0), 5:3 pen, 29/06/14, Arena Pernambucano, Recife

Both mangers had pretty much full squad available with only Panagiotis Kone still injured, therefore both teams fielded expected starting Xls.

Starting XIs

The usual Greece

As expected, both teams played really defensively in the group stage. Costa Rica was a real outsider against England, Italy and Uruguay, while Greece haven´t changed their approach for the past 10 years. Therefore, the main question before the match was who will take the initiative and tries to dictate the game. For the first time in the tournament, Costa Rica was regarded as a favourite team and that´s the way they approached this game. They had 54% of the possession in the first half, however most of the passes were in the own half or on the flanks, far from Greece goal.

Costa Rica passes, 1st Half

Greek players were happy to sit deep, keeping compact and leaving no gaps in the middle of the pitch. They tried to disrupt the build up when Navas was taking goal kicks, forcing him to go long and there were few moments when they pressed around the half way line with 5 players, but generally they were letting centerbacks time on the ball and close the players down once the ball was played into their half.

As you would expect, Costa Rica couldn’t find space and recorded only two shots and none on target. Their build up was slow and no one tried to play penetrative passes, Campbell made some of his usual runs into the right channel, but his teammates simply couldn´t find a pass through packed middle of the park. Their most promising moments came when they managed to win the ball, or better said, Greece lost the ball cheaply, higher up and tried to combine quickly. Bolanos´s shot after 8 minutes was the best example. They had couple of promising breaks too, but wasted them with a wrong pass.

Greece followed their usual gameplan and had better chances. They didn´t get to counter too much as Costa Rica was really cautious with their passing, but they were more dangerous when on the ball. Their main treat came from fullbacks. Holebas was pushing up, always trying to get into crossing position, but often looking for a cross from deeper and he played a fantastic ball for Salpidigis who was only kept out by a great save from Navas. On the right side, Torosidis didn´t cross that much, but he was looking for a diagonal towards Samaras who made some good runs in behind the back 3.

Second half

After the break, the game took completely different path and Greece became the dominant side. It came as a result of an early goal and red card for Duarte as well as referees missing a clear hand ball by Torosidis in the own box.

Costa Rica scored with their first shot on target. The goal came after yet another cheap loss of possession by Greeks, but this time, Costa Rica combine well down the left and Bolanos found Ruiz on the edge of the box who placed a ball into the bottom far corner. It is worth pointing out that Greece still had 7 v 4 in that situation, but left Ruiz completely unattended as 5 players covered the space in the box where only one Costa Rican was.

A minute later, Torosidis handed a ball in front of two Costa Ricans going for the cross from the right. Should referee spotted it, he would have been sent off and penalty would have been awarded.

With 66 minutes gone, Duarte made another silly foul and was sent off after second yellow card. Costa Rica regrouped immediately, which showed they were prepared for that and started to play as 4-4-1, with both wide players giving extra protection for their wingbacks who became fullbacks, but that left Campbell totally isolated up front and he found it really difficult to battle against centerbacks.

Being 1:0 down and against 10 men, Greece did what they should. They pushed forward, pinned Costa Rica back and looked to work down the flanks through fullbacks.

Substitutions and extra time

Santos made a first positive change after 58 minutes, introducing Mitroglou in the place of Samaris. Karagounis dropped alongside Maniatis and Samaras played just behind him. Gekas came on for Salpidigis right after Duarte´s dismissal to provide even more aerial treat. Greece now played with two central midfielders, two strikers, Samaras on the left, Christodoulopoulos the right, but both of them drifting inside to create space for fullbacks to get forward. Katsouranis replaced Maniatis to provide fresh legs in the middle.

Pinto´s first change was a strait swop as Cubero replaced Tejeda in the midfield duo moments before Duarte got sent off. Other two subs were of a defensive character. Acosta replaced attacking minded Gamboa on the right. Brenes came on for Bolanos and went right to help deal with threat of Holebas. Ruiz switched sides.

Greece pushed up more and more as the game went on, trying to find their two strikers with crosses and long ball, but Costa Rica´s defence did well. For the last 10 minutes Socratis went on top to try to win some headers and that was decisive. Greece now had 3 v 2 in that area they eventually made it count. The trio ´combined´ as Mitroglou won a header for Gekas, who took a shot from a close range and Navas was only able to push the ball in front of Sokratis who volleyed it home. Greece could have even won it, but Navas made a great save to deny Mitroglou a winner.

The first period of extra time was all about Greece. The continued to push as you would expect with a man advantage and had a couple of promising chances after long balls and crosses. Costa Rica looked more and more tired.

In the second period however, Greece were more dangerous and Costa Rica got into the game more. Campbell looked absolutely exhausted up front and didn´t offer much outlet, but managed to hold the ball and win couple of free kicks to take the pressure of. Costa Rica committed men forward for set pieces and it almost cost them, when Greeks broke 5 v 2 after corner, but Mitroglou probably didn´t pick the best pass and Navas saved the shot from Christodoulopoulos. In the stoppage time,  Navas made yet another great save to deny Mitroglou who got at the end of Gekas´s flick. Navas was clearly a man of the match after 90 and 120 minutes, but he prove that again in the penalty shoot-out as he made another fantastic save to deny Gekas.

Conclusion

Arguably the two most defensively minded sides meet and one of them had to come and try to play. It was Costa Rica until they scored, than it was Greece who had to chase the game and had a man advantage. Greece were probably the better side, even before Duarte´s dismissal as they played as usual while Costa Rica simply doesn´t have many creative players who can unlock the defences and they primarily rely on the counter attacks. Greece created enough chances to win the game and they played into their strengths once they were losing. They continued the same way in the extra time and probably regret they haven´t converted that 5 v 2 break into the goal, but it´s difficult to blame them for not scoring from other chances.

But Costa Rica deserves great credit too. They were a man down for almost half of the game, forced to play back 4 instead of back 5 and still managed to prevent Greece from creating chances by good passing and combination play. They were brave to commit men forward for set pieces in the extra time, which showed they wanted to win too, not just to get to penalties. Joel Campbell had a difficult game as he thrives on quick counters, but fought well for his team and it´s difficult to remember seeing an attacker so exhausted at the end of the game. Penalty shoot-out are the lottery, but it was amazing to see how well Costa Ricans took theirs to book a historic place in the quarter final against Netherlands, the game where they will be underdogs, looking to surprise the world of football again!

Highlighs: Costa Rica 1:1 (5:3p) Greece

Fiorentina 1:3 Napoli

Fiorentina – Napoli 1:3 (1:2), 03/05/14, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Montella is still without Mario Gomez and Cuadrado was suspended. Rossi was fit enough only for the bench and duo Ilicic-Joaquin was preferred to Matri upfront.

Napoli had more or less full squad available as Higuain recovered from injury suffered last week and started the game even if he wasn´t 100% fit.  Benitez stuck with his back four of late with Henrique on the right. Insigne was preferred to Mertens in attack. 

Starting XIs

Great start by Napoli

The match started with 45 minutes delay due to fan problems following shooting in Rome ahead of the game, but it is questionable if that had any effect on the players.

It was all about Napoli for the opening 25 minutes. They played in their usual 4-2-3-1 system with Hamsik in no.10 role and Insigne on the right where he loves to cut inside. First chance came after cooperation of these two and Neto pushed the shot wide. Higuain had a big chance from following corner, but Valero cleared the ball on the line.

Napoli were 2:0 up inside 16 minutes with Insigne getting both goals. Both of them came on the counter. Firstly, Napoli won the ball in their defensive third and Hamsik was allowed to run 60 meters with the ball before playing Insigne in who took his shot brilliantly. Second goal came after mistake from Vargas on the left, Higuain ran down the line and tried to find Hamsik with a square pass. Ball eventually got to Insigne who hit it first time again and ball went in after taking a deflection from Tomovic. 

Fiorentina gets back in the game

Montella named the side without and orthodox striker, with Ilicic and Joaquin on top, but positioning of the midfielders was more interesting. They played in a diamond with Valero behind the front two, Aquilani on the right, Vargas on the left and Pizzaro at the bottom of it.

This, combined with good movement from front two caused Napoli problems and one of the players repeatedly found a space between the lines. Valero had a decent shot after receiving the ball in that area before Fiorentina pulled the goal back. Gonzalo played a simple ball through the middle and Vargas made a well-timed run to get to Ilicic´s flick to volley the ball in.

Fiorentina had a promising chance on the break minutes later and Joaquin was just offside when Ilicic played him through after getting passed three players in the middle. It seemed like an equalizer is coming and it wasn´t far away as Aqualani scored from a close range after great set-piece by Ilicic only to be ruled offside. Napoli were lucky to be going ahead into the second half.

Second half and subs

Napoli started second half much more cautious then finishing the first one and Fiorentina had long spells of possession in the first 15 minutes. Since Napoli sat deeper, they couldn´t find that space between the lines and failed to create a chance in that dominant period.

Montella made a first chance with Mati Fernandez coming on for Pasqual. Vargas moved to left back, Valero dropped deeper and Fernandez played behind the front duo. Hamsik came off with 30 minutes to go with Mertens taking his place and offering more pace for counter-attacks. As Fiorentina pushed forward more and more, the counters were Napoli best chance of killing the game. Higuain was replaced by Pandev for last 20 minutes and he had a great chance when Mertens played him through on the break. Napoli also wasted 4v4 few minutes earlier.

Mati Fernandez had a decent shot on the volley from outside the box when he found a space in that hole in front of Napoli´s defence for the first time in the second half, but Napoli were closing that space down well.

Inler´s sending off after second yellow card gave allowed Fiorentina to dominate significantly for the remainder of the game. Behrami came on for Insigne right after that and Napoli defended as 4-4-1 with Pandev on top. Montella gradually brought on Rossi and Matri with Ilicic dropping bit deeper, but the shape remained the same.

Ilicic wasted a golden chance on the break after Pandev´s misplaced back pass when Napoli committed players forward unnecessarily, failing to hit the target when 1 on 1 against Reina. Matri had a shot on the turn just wide, but it was Napoli having a last word. The ball got to Callejon on the left who dribble towards the middle with a bit of luck before playing Mertens into the box who had little problem scoring with his weaker foot and the game was over with only couple of minutes left in the stoppage time. 

Conclusion

Fiorentina didn´t help themselves here as they concede twice in the opening 20 minutes when giving the ball away cheaply in Napoli´s half, but Insigne took his goals well. They were close to getting levelled by half time when they repeatedly found the space between the lines. Montella´s use of midfield diamond, combined with some good movement from front two created some real problems for Napoli in the first half. Centerbacks were reluctant to follow Joaquin or Ilicic when they dropped deeper.  Jorginho and Inler pushed towards Aquilani and Vargas and Valero or one of the strikers repeatedly found a space behind them. Fiorentina´s goal came from that situation and they won a few fouls and had some dangerous shots too. Napoli were much better in closing that space down in the second half and Fiorentina failed to create chances until late on, when they Napoli were down to ten men. Napoli´s best chances as well as Insigne´s goals came on the counter, but that just showed how effective it is to be able to attack quickly when playing against possession based sides.

Benitez delivered his first trophy as a Napoli manager, proving that he can really motivate his players for big nights, but he will have to find a way to get the best out of this Napoli side every week if they really are to fight for the league title next season. 

FC Barcelona 1:2 Real Madrid

FC Barcelona – Real Madrid 1:2 (0:1), 16/04/14, Mestalla, Valencia

Barca were without Pique and Puyol, Bartra recovered early enough to start the game alongside Mascerano. Martino continued with his expected XI for the ´big´ games with both Iniesta and Fabregas on the pitch. Pinto would probably start the game even if Valdes was fit as he has been Barca no. 1 in Copa del Rey for years.

Real couldn´t count on Arbeola, Marcelo and Ronaldo. Ramos was fit enough to play so Varane was only on the bench.  Ancelotti played Isco rather than Illara in the middle, with Di Maria on the right and Bale on the left. Casillas was preferred to Lopez in goal.

Starting XIs

Real  à la Atletico ?

The game had expected pattern, with Barca dominating the possession significantly and Real trying to play on the counter, even though Real enjoyed good spell on the ball during some periods.  Real were really solid defensively, denying Barca space in front of their box and looking for quick attacks  once the ball has been won. On the paper it looked like Real will continue with their usual 4-3-3, with Xabi-Modric-Isco in the middle and front three. In fact that was the way they positioned themselves when having possession for longer periods, but that happened rarely as Barcelona dominated the ball. It was really interesting how Ancelotti change the system for this game in the absence of Ronaldo. When in the side, he doesn´t contribute too much defensively and usually stays higher up, providing and outlet on the break. In this game, Real defended as a 4-4-2, replicating the system Atletico Madrid uses when playing Barcelona. Modric and Alonso were in the middle, Isco on left and Di Maria dropping deeper on the right with all four of them staying close to each other and moving towards the play. Bale dropped in occasionally, but Benzema stayed up top without contributing too much defensively once the ball was played behind him. He, Bale and Di Maria pressed half-heartedly sometimes, but Barca had little problem to work the ball forward around them.  

When Real won the ball, Isco and especially Di Maria sprinted up the pitch to support the front duo and exploit the space left by Barca. First goal was perfect example. Real won the ball, Isco played a neat pass to Bale, he found Benzema on top who played a beautiful first time through ball into Di Maria and Alba couldn´t get back on time to stop him from opening the score. 

Barca down the right

Martino played his usual side for this kind of game and yet again, Barcelona looked rather impotent. Neymar is the most dangerous when playing on the left, with a chance to cut inside and get into penalty area or find a player in the box with a cross, but he started on the right again. Iniesta played on the left, but he drifts inside most of the time allowing Alba to get forward. Fabregas started in the middle, but with Iniesta coming in from the left, he was often pushed out, playing as a central forward. Messi dropped deeper to create overload in the midfield, but Real defended really well in the middle. Most of Barca´s attacks were coming down the right, with Alves typically getting in advanced positions, looking for a cross or to combine with Messi and Xavi. He sent in couple of good crosses, but it wasn´t easy for his teammates to win a header against Pepe and Ramos with Alba having the best attempt.

There were couple of good combinations down the left too, but Barca didn´t manage to create too much, with Messi´s shot on the volley on the rebound probably the most dangerous chance.

Second half and subs

Adriano replaced Alba at half time, most likely in attempt  to offer Barca´s centerbacks more support. Alba likes to get forward as much as possible, and with Alves spending more time on the right wing than defending, Barca is conceding too much space at the back and Real´s counter attacks always looked dangerous. With Adriano on the left, Barca had more balance when attacked through Alves. However, Real still managed to create promising situations on the break with Bale having a good chance early into the second half, he probably should have passed rather than go for a goal himself.

Both teams played the same way as in the first half and Martino made an expected substitution after 60 minutes - Fabregas off, Pedro on. Neymar went left, Iniesta middle and Pedro played on the right, drifting inside to provide space for Alves and Messi. Neymar did the same from the beginning, but as mentioned before, he is much more dangerous from the left.

Barca´s improvement and increased pressure resulted into an equalizer, but it wasn´t from open play. Bartra scored from a corner after Pepe misjudged the path of the ball and he headed the ball into top corner.

After the goal the game´s tempo dropped as Barca didn´t have to push so much for the goal. They still dominated the possession though and Real played on the counter, creating couple of decent chances, before Bale scored the decisive goal after another quick break. Real won the ball in the left back position and played a ball down the touchline. Bale simply outpaced Bartra and beat Pinto from a close range after coming in from the left and Mascerano couldn’t get across to intercept. Bale showed his great physicality here, but more important was how much space Barca left behind again.

Ancelotti made his second change right after goal, bringing on Illaremendi in the place of Di Maria. He played alongside Alonso in the middle, with Modric on the left and Isco moving right.  Couple of minutes later, Isco made a way for Casemiro.

Alexis came on for Bartra immediately after conceding. He went up front, with Messi playing right behind the front trio and Busquets dropping to defence.

Neymar had a golden chance to send the game into extra time, but he only hit a post when 1 on 1 against Casillas after Xavi played him in through the middle.

Ancelotti took of Benzema and brought on Varane to prevent the same situation happening in the stoppage time. 

 Conclusion

This was a very different game compared to the last meeting between these two sides. Without Ronaldo, Ancelotti played a system that made Real really solid defensively and dangerous on the break as Di Maria and Isco supported front two. Martino played his usual side for the big game, but yet again, Barca looked rather helpless, creating only one clear cut chance, which Neymar didn´t convert into another equalizer. It remains mystery, why he insists on starting with both Fabregas and Iniesta and playing Neymar on the right, when Barca clearly look much more dangerous with Brazilian on the left and either Pedro or Alexis on the right. It provides more men in the central positions, but with teams defending with four midfielders close to each other in that area, Barca find it really difficult to get behind them and defenders look untroubled most of the time.

Real won the first major trophy of the season with a chance for a treble while Barcelona can only hope for Madrid teams to give away some points in the remaining games in La Liga as even winning all their games wouldn´t be enough to win the title. 

Highlighs: Barca 1:2 Real