Possession no longer nine tenths of the law in football
For nearly decade possession-based football has been en vogue at the top level of football, but this season has rather proven that having possession is not always the most important aspect of a winning team.
On Wednesday night Atletico Madrid defeated reigning European champions Barcelona 2-0 in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. The victory was enough to eliminate the Catalan giants and was achieved with Barcelona dominating the ball for long periods, as they do routinely.
The trend of winning without dominating possession is prevalent in Spain at Atletico Madrid and this season Premier League leaders Leicester City. Both teams have mastered the art of playing well when they do not have the ball.
It is something that has proven necessary over the last few seasons, as it combats the fact that the other teams have superior quality players.
Atletico and Leicester do not have big budgets and resources, but what they have is clever coaches in Diego Simeone and Claudio Ranieri who know how to create a well drilled team.
Neither side could claim to have the best players in the world, but that does not matter as every player knows what they have to do when their team does not have the ball.
That sort of organisation can take you a long way, just as a number of team have shown down the years, in particularly Atletico and Leicester in this season. The days of possession football may are not dead, but teams can certainly be successful by being highly-organised and well-drilled.
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