La Liga, Round 22. At Madrid's Calderon Stadium, Real Madrid faced Atletico Madrid away.
Real Madrid had not drawn a single match this season, but in this game, facing the Mattress Makers away, they adopted an unusually defensive posture, seemingly content with a draw so they could escape Calderon Stadium unscathed.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, acted completely out of character, taking the initiative and putting on an all-out attacking display.
Clearly, Simeone understood Real Madrid's current predicament perfectly.
Six key players were injured, the First Team regulars were in poor form, and all of that had robbed Real Madrid of its competitiveness. Worse still, the team's morale had taken a heavy blow. It seemed on the verge of falling apart and collapsing completely.
Real Madrid lined up in a 4-3-3 Formation. Navas started in goal. Ancelotti had clearly taken Courtois's situation at Calderon into account and had therefore left him on the bench. The back line consisted of Azpilicueta, Vermaelen, Varane, and Carvajal. Javi Martínez and Ramos were both unavailable.
In midfield, Real Madrid used a combination of David Silva, Mascherano, and Toni Kroos. Kroos was making his return to the starting lineup after being rested for one match.
After James Rodríguez was ruled out through injury, Di Maria was the best choice for that position. He was one of the few Real Madrid players capable of surging down the wings, so the Trident up front consisted of Hazard, Yang Yang, and Di Maria.
It was not difficult to tell from the starting lineup that Real Madrid still hoped to perform at their usual level away from home. However, the absence of so many players had clearly affected them badly, especially at left back, where Marcelo was missing.
Azpilicueta was excellent defensively, but he offered little going forward. As a result,