Introduction: The 40.5% Bias
There is one striking tendency in Atlético de Madrid's current season. According to Opta (The Analyst) data, 40.5% of the team's attacks in La Liga have originated from the right side — the third-highest degree of lateral bias in the league. In the UEFA Champions League, that figure is even more pronounced, reaching 44.2%, the fourth highest among all 36 teams. Nearly half of the team's attacking output flows through just one side of the pitch.
At the heart of these numbers stands Giuliano Simeone. Standing 173cm tall and 23 years old, he is officially registered as a right winger. But the reality of what he does defies that label. In defensive phases, he drops into the back line to serve as a right wing-back, anchoring the right edge of a five-man defence. When possession is won, he sprints forward to attack the space behind the opposition's defensive line. Over the course of 90 minutes, he cycles through at least four distinct roles: right winger, right wing-back, right midfielder, and support striker.
How many €70-million-class wingers would accept an instruction to slot into the defensive line? For Giuliano, this is not an extraordinary sacrifice. It is simply his job.
This column breaks down how Atlético's right flank changes shape during a match, analyzing the process across three distinct phases.
Phase 1: The Defensive Block — A Right Winger Disappears Into the Back Line
Atlético's defensive structure begins in a 4-4-2. Koke and Barrios anchor central midfield, and two compact lines slide laterally as a unit — the foundational shape Diego Simeone has been refining for 14 years.
Yet when the opposition holds possession and pushes forward, the shape quietly transforms. Giuliano drops from a high position on the right flank all the way into the back line, taking up a position outside Marcos Llorente. This is the moment a back four becomes a back five. Llorente slides inward to the right centre-back channel while Giuliano fills the right edge of the defensive line. The midfield contracts from four to three, and the overall formation shifts into a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1.
This structure was on vivid display in the away fixture at Betis in October 2025 (0-2). Having seized the initiative with an early first-half goal, Atlético saw Betis introduce Lo Celso and intensify their attacking pressure after the break. In response, Giuliano was dropped to right wing-back to form a back five. According to Between the Posts' tactical analysis, Atlético reinforced their defensive shape by shifting Giuliano to right wing-back and transitioning to a back five, effectively cutting off the flow of Betis' attacks. The result: Atlético weathered the second-half onslaught and secured a clean-sheet victory.
The defensive numbers are equally striking. According to The Analyst's data, Giuliano leads all wingers in La Liga this season with 81 ball recoveries. His combined tally of tackles and interceptions stands at 45, again first among wingers. These are figures typically expected from defensive midfielders or full-backs — decidedly abnormal for a player classified as a winger.
Father Diego Simeone has described it in these terms: "[Giuliano] transmits something that is very difficult to go and buy. Either you have it or you don't." The commitment to dropping into the defensive line can be instructed on a tactics board, but without the player's own resolve, it simply does not function.
Phase 2: Transition — From the Edge of a Back Five to a Winger in an Instant
Giuliano's true value emerges in what happens after the defensive block has been set. The moment the ball is won, the 23-year-old stationed at the right edge of the back line sprints into a high position on the right flank. From right wing-back in a back five to right winger in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. This vertical burst of movement serves as the ignition switch for Atlético's transitions.
The Analyst's data reveals a compelling picture. Atlético's average ball recovery position in La Liga this season is 43 metres from their own goal — the highest since the 2016-17 campaign (43.1m). Meanwhile, their possession average of 53.3% is the highest in the entire Simeone era. The traditional image of "defend deep, win the ball, and counter at speed" no longer fully applies; this is a team evolving into one that recovers possession higher up and holds the ball for longer. That said, the vertical sprint from the depths of a back five to an attack behind the opposition's line — the "deep-to-high" transition — remains a vital weapon in Atlético's arsenal.
In this phase, Llorente is inseparable from Giuliano. Llorente's entire career has been a history of crossing positional boundaries. He was developed as a pivot in Real Madrid's academy before moving to Atlético in 2019. In March 2020, he was converted to a forward role in the Champions League knockout tie at Liverpool's Anfield (a 3-2 away win), scoring twice. Since then, he has evolved through stints as a right midfielder, a right wing-back, and into his current role as right-back. With a midfielder's background, he handles the ball like a playmaker during build-up. When Giuliano pushes forward, Llorente covers behind; when Giuliano drops into the back line, Llorente shifts inside. Two Swiss army knives complementing each other's movements.
Giuliano's runs in behind are a weapon where quantity breeds quality. His 53 runs in behind during the Champions League league phase rank second among all wingers. The only two instances of an Atlético player recording 10 or more runs in behind in a single match this season have both been by Giuliano. Not every one of those runs directly creates a chance. But by running relentlessly, he erodes the opposition's concentration, and the opening that appears on the 50th or 51st run is the one he exploits.
It is also notable that Giuliano is not a player who beats defenders through dribbling. Rather than the feints and changes of direction of a Vinícius Júnior, he wins his battles with straight-line speed and the quality of his off-the-ball movement. According to The Analyst, Giuliano has recorded six assists following a carry since the Club World Cup in the summer of 2025 — third among all players in Europe's big five leagues, behind only Michael Olise (10) and Vinícius Júnior (7). In an era dominated by cut-inside wingers, a right-footed winger who drives down the right flank in straight lines is becoming an increasingly rare breed.
Phase 3: The Final Third — Destroying the Line From the Right
When the ball reaches the attacking third, Atlético's right side enters its most dangerous state. Giuliano penetrates to the byline and delivers cutbacks or crosses. Julián Álvarez and Alexander Sørloth wait in the centre. Or Giuliano himself arrives in the box to finish.
In this season's Champions League, Giuliano leads all players with 18 defensive line-breaking passes received — passes that pierce the opposition's back line. Atlético as a team also rank first in the competition with a total of 48 line-breaking passes. What is even more notable is that the passers are distributed among six or more different players, also the most in the Champions League. There is no single creative hub threading through-balls; the system is designed so that anyone can deliver a pass into the space behind. Barrios, Koke, Llorente, Le Normand, Hancko — suppliers are embedded throughout the squad, from defenders to midfielders. Moreover, as The Analyst notes, Baena, widely considered the team's best executor of the final pass, has been absent due to injury and is not included in these figures. Once he is integrated, this circuit will only grow wider.
This structural advantage has produced tangible results across specific fixtures. In Matchday 7 against Real Madrid (5-2), Giuliano repeatedly broke through on the right and created a stream of chances in combination with Llorente. In Matchday 25 against Espanyol (4-2), Giuliano found the net himself. In Matchday 2 of the Champions League league phase against Eintracht Frankfurt (5-1), a Giuliano header produced another goal. In each case, it was the variable structure of the right side that made the difference.
Why the Right? — Asymmetry by Design
Having deconstructed the mechanics of the right side, one final question remains: why the right, and not the left?
The answer lies in fundamentally different design philosophies for each flank. The right side is the "variable lane" of Giuliano and Llorente. In defence, it forms part of the back line. In transition, it accelerates vertically. In the attacking third, it delivers the final ball from the byline. It is a circuit that shifts through multiple modes.
The left side is designed in contrast. Matteo Ruggeri operates as a dependable full-back making steady overlapping runs, while Ademola Lookman and Nico González look to cut inside and strike at goal. The left is a "finishing" circuit; the multi-phase shape-shifting built into the right is not part of its blueprint.
This left-right asymmetry is almost certainly not accidental but intentionally engineered. Create from the right, finish from the left. Or stabilise defensively on the right while maintaining a high position on the left. In either phase, the fact that each flank serves a different function makes it harder for opponents to prioritize their defensive response.
This is also precisely why Giuliano Simeone is described as irreplaceable. The willingness to drop into the defensive line, the explosive power in transition, the rarity of a right-footed straight-line runner — the fact that a single player combines all of these qualities is what makes the variable structure of the right side viable. The contract extension through 2030 and the €500 million release clause announced in January 2026 are the club's way of putting a number on that irreplaceability.
"Something that is very difficult to go and buy." The father's words serve as both a tribute to his son and a declaration of trust in the blueprint of the right side itself. Every time Giuliano drops into the back line, Atlético changes shape — and it is that shape-shifting that produces the 40.5% bias.