Atlético de Madrid’s long unbeaten run at the Metropolitan stadium is over in a match that especially hurt him, due to the hopes he has deposited in the Copa del Rey. I was wearing 26 wins and two draws as location, more than a year. The 1-0 defeat compared to Athletic Bilbao on the way of his semifinal forces him to make a comeback in revenge at the Nuevo San Mamés, on the 29th of this month.
The header of Álvaro Morata next to a post in the 57th minute of the second half was a synthesis of insistence without reward for Atlético. A couple of minutes earlier I had felt another form of frustration when Antoine Griezmann was about to take a penalty that the VAR prevented when it detected an off-side by Morata at the moment he was brought down by Yeray Alvarez.
Nothing came of Diego Simeone’s Atléticoa coach who in the two-game playoffs is accompanied by high efficiency (66.6%), a product of 32 wins in 48 series. It will be difficult to reverse the key in the event of a Athletic of Copara lineagewhich faces fifth consecutive year the semifinals and he knew how to be the most successful in the competition (24 titles) until Barcelona surpassed him (31). “We played a very good game, but we made a mistake, and in these types of games you pay. “It is a long series, there are 90 minutes left,” said Simeone, who seemed calm at the press conference.
hot endingcon Simeone separating Rodrigo De Paul, engrossed in a discussion and in pushes con Alex Berenguer, author of the winning goal. Atlético had made a great effort against an opponent who had arrived with 48 more hours of rest due to the league schedule, a circumstance about which the Argentine coach complained.
In the center of the defense, the sector in which it is most often closed, the Madrid team left a clear path that Reinildo He wanted to cover it up with recklessness. The Mozambique defender, who returns after a long injury and playing in the African Cup, was not against Real Madrid. Simeone preserved him for this match, to which he assigned greater importance than the derby. Powerful and expeditious, Reinildo did not measure his entry down against Beñat Prados, swept away with a hard kick. Clear penalty, although Atlético disputed that the infraction had been outside the area. Berenguer converted it with a shot that went to the opposite post to the one it flew to. Jan Oblak.
24 minutes had passed and the team led by Ernesto Valverde was getting the most out of their orderly approach, with little possession of the ball but tactically disciplined, without rushing, waiting for an opportunity. He had it with Reinildo’s excess of vehemence, who was reprimanded, and Cholo did not want to risk: in the second period he replaced him with Beautiful Mario.
A rock-crushing first half was for Atlético. It was difficult for him to translate the initiative into goal situations. The difficulty in finding spaces in the vicinity of the area led him to abuse the centers, which almost always found the Basque defense well positioned. Rodrigo De Paul, distinguished as the best footballer of the Madrid team in January, put together a tandem on the right with Nahuel Molinabut he also had the freedom to venture into other sectors, in search of the gap for the pass that the white defense blocked with good staggering.
The blocked development led De Paul to have friction with some rivals and to protest to the referee. The Argentine connects to the games by playing and talking. Some appearance by Griezmann, the always lurking presence of Memphis Depay –starting ahead of Morata, the team’s top scorer in the league–, the percussion of the winger Samuel Linus On the left, some climbing of Molina. Atlético went and crashed, anxiety came over him.
Athletic Bilbao was better at covering spaces than at taking care of the ball. There was not much news of the strides of Iñaki Williams on the right. In any case, those led by Valverde carried out the plan to deactivate the adversary very well.
Simeone moved the bank with Morata’s income – he was not there from the start because he had some muscle discomfort – and Marcos Llorente, author of the tie at the Santiago Bernabéu, for Molina. In the second stage, the match entered into the ambient combustion that Cholo had asked of the fans the day before.
Athletic also adapted to this more frenetic scenario and did not give up the counterattack. It was very close to 2-0 when the player entered Asier Villalibre Two or three meters from the goal, he did not take advantage of Obak’s rebound from a shot by Unai Gómez. The tension was increasing and Simeone was reprimanded for protests.
The time has come Angel Correa, a common trigger in the second half, and even more so when his team is in trouble. The Argentine shook up the attack with his daring and his ability to find space. You can always expect something from him. and he went the one who was closest to getting the tie, with a cross definition that cleared Iñigo Lekue over the line.
There was no way to open the Basque lock. Until the archer Julen Agirrezabala, starter for the Copa del Rey, while Unai Simón is a starter in the league, he excelled with a cover for Griezmann, who also couldn’t against his favorite victim: Athletic is the rival against whom he scored the most (14 goals in 32 games). There was no case: Atlético suffered a defeat despite having done well to win something.
The formations of Atlético de Madrid 0 vs. Athletic Bilbao 1
Themes
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