There was a time when Simeone’s Atlético was a fierce and vertical team. A rival who breathed vertigo into the matches until he unraveled the opponents. That led him to win many matches and several titles. But the colchoneros have been gentrified in recent times and are now lazier, which does not mean that they do not keep in their catalog that resource that was once the ABC of their counterattack football. San Mamés witnessed this in a remarkable fight by Simeone’s squad in which Griezmann crowned the work of his teammates.
This environment is…
E S P E C T A C U L A R. ????❤️????️ @AthleticClub #LaLigaSantander | #AthleticAtleti pic.twitter.com/50QrHAezsO
— LaLiga (@LaLiga) October 15, 2022
Vertigo and controversy
Those from Cholo arrived at the Cathedral to face the Williams Athletic, a team that fills the tank with kerosene. There is no other more direct or sharper in the league, with the speed of the brothers making these stampedes shine. Valverde, an intelligent coach as they come, has understood that with this young and offensive squad, the exchange of blows is the best possible scenario. A football full of verve that his fans celebrate, regardless of the result. Against Atlético, he lit up another round trip match in which the Metropolitano did not feel uncomfortable. Iñaki was able to score with a header in the umpteenth gross mistake of the mattress center-backs. But it was Morata who did it after chasing a ball in which he involuntarily tripped Iñigo Martínez and then beat Unai Simón with great cold blood. Goal that the VAR controversially annulled for one of those fouls by crossing
Griezmann, freed from the clause that condemned him to play half an hour per game, has put Atlético on his back in recent games. With his intelligence, he reads the games like nobody else and pauses where there is vertigo and vertigo where there is yawning. In San Mamés Antoine backed down to ask for the ball and overcome pressure lines with walls with Lemar that disarmed the Lions. Morata moved on the wire, and although they did not finish generating chances, they began to handle the revolutions of the crash. The transitions were vertiginous, but few things happened in the areas because Reinildo prevailed over Nico and Kondogbia over Muniain. Despite the frenzy, the break was goalless.
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Atlético came out of the shower more tense, and on the first play he put together a good maneuver by Morata falling to the edge of the area to put it back, where only Griezmann appeared to push the ball into the net. A goal that announced a melee in the second half. But Simeone has returned to the roots and after the last selection window he warned his players that they were recovering the traditional recipe: defenses and counterattack. Y in the Cathedral the rojiblancos showed a much improved Numantine profile, with staggered lines, choral coverage and vertical exits after recovery or supports with walls. An Atlético that feels better about the rivals that demand it than those that make them think.
The departure of Oblak, injured in a shoulder, added to the late start of the second half due to a problem with a goal net, cooled the spirits of the San Mamés stands and reduced the clawing of some caged lions. Simeone also won the ‘other’ match against Valverde. An unrecognizable Athletic was diluted with the trickle of the minutes while Cholo raised, brick by brick, a palisade in front of Grbic’s area, who took out two worthy hands. To this was added that the VAR undid a penalty from Reinildo that actually hit him in the face. The rojiblancos, who have not yet lost far from the Metropolitano, stabilize in the Champions zone with a hierarchy victory for the rival and for the stage. And what is more worrying for its competitors, recovering a football identity which has allowed him to look several ochomiles. Atlético is back, if it ever left. Long live cholism!
No penalty for Athletic!
Figueroa Vázquez corrects after the review in the VAR. #LaCasaDelFootball #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/o7Ys2yY4zs
– Soccer on Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarFutbol) October 15, 2022
Sheet: Athletic 0-1 Atletico
Athelic: Unai Simon; De Marcos, Yeray (Vivian 86′), Inigo Martinez, Lake; Vesga (Dani Garcia 86′), Sancet (Zarraga 79′); Nico Williams (Villalibre 79′), Muniain (Raul Garcia 65′), Berenger; Iñaki Williams
Atlético: Oblak (Grbic 68′); Molina, Savic, Giménez, Reinildo; Lemar (Joao Félix 81′), Kondogbia, De Paul (Saúl 68′), Koke (Witsel 81′); Morata (Strap 68′), Griezmann
Gol: 0-1, Griezmann (46’)
Referee: Figueroa Vazquez. Admonished Simeone, Giménez, Morata, Oblak, Witsel, Grbic
Estadio: New San Mames. 48,000 spectators.