A goal from Saúl Ñíguez six minutes from time returned Atlético de Madrid to the Champions League zone and stopped Villarreal’s progression, which is once again moving away from the dream of returning to Europe.
The Madrid team, which won away again four games later, took the lead in the first half, with clear athletic dominance, through Witsel, but Sorloth tied at the start of the second half.
When the match was most open, Saúl, who had only been on the field for a few seconds, sentenced Villarreal, who saw their streak of nine consecutive days without losing broken.
Atlético, revitalized in its midfield, jumped determined not to speculate against Villarreal and from the first moment took control of the ball.
The first Madrid warning came from the boots of Griezmann, who filtered a perfect ball for Lino, but the Atlético player’s shot was taken out with Jorgensen’s foot.
In the midst of Atlético’s harassment, the first goal arrived, scored by Witsel after a corner kick. The Belgian took advantage of Villarreal’s weakness in strategic actions to head the ball to the far post.
The goal unleashed Atlético, who moments later were able to score the second after a combination between Lino and Memphis that the Dutchman culminated with a weak shot into the hands of the local goalkeeper.
Villarreal, unable to find Parejo, was devoured by the pressure in Atlético’s midfield, which scored the second in a shot by Llorente that Jorgensen saved with a spectacular save.
As the minutes passed, Villarreal managed to balance the game and surround Atlético’s area, almost always in set-piece actions.
Marcelino’s team finally managed to find Gerard Moreno between the lines and began to regain possession, although not enough to put Oblak in trouble.
The closest to the goal was Atlético again, this time with a shot from Riquelme, after a robbery against Parejo, which came out centimeters from the corner.
Only in the final stretch of the first act did Villarreal, although without finesse in the last pass, give a feeling of harassment and danger, but the shots of Gerard Moreno and Mosquera did not put Oblak in trouble.
After the break, Villarreal took a step forward in their proposal while Atlético sacrificed Riquelme to strengthen their defense with Savic.
Marcelino’s team advanced lines and stifled the ball from Atlético, who ended up receiving the tie, after four minutes, after a loss of the ball in a risk zone penalized by a shot by Sorloth that Oblak could not reach.
Villarreal, revitalized by the goal, took complete possession of the ball and began to triangulate with the usual speed and precision, forcing Atlético to entrench themselves in their field.
Simeone tried to reactivate his team with a triple substitution, bringing on Azpilicueta, Correa and Morata, and Atlético regained offensive energy.
Correa and Morata responded to Villarreal’s dominance, led in attack by an omnipresent Gerard Moreno, with two scoring chances that confirmed Madrid’s improvement.
Atlético stopped the game and had their chance in a header from Morata, again after a corner kick, which hit the crossbar.
Parejo also, after a backheel from Baena, touched the goal, but his shot, from inside the area, went high.
In the middle of the exchange of blows, a good team play by Atlético allowed Saúl, who had only been on the field for a couple of minutes, to end the game with a soft pass to the net, in the front of the area, in the face of the passivity of the defense local.
Villarreal did not give up and tried to save a point in stoppage time with a cross from Traoré that was close to surprising Oblak.
Datasheet:
1 – Villarreal: Jorgensen; Mosquera, Mandi, Albiol (Pedraza, min. 80), Cuenca; Parejo, Coquelin (Comesaña, min. 64), Capoue (Baena, min. 64), Gerard Moreno (Traoré, min. 80), Guedes (Morales, min. 70) and Sorloth.
2 – Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Witsel (Azpilicueta, min. 65), Giménez, Reinildo; Llorente, Koke, Barrios (Saúl, min. 83), Lino, Riquelme (Savic, min. 46), Griezmann (Correa, min. 65) and Memphis Depay (Morata, min. 65).
Goals: 0-1, min. 8: Witsel. 1-1. min. 49: Sorloth. 1-2, min. 87: Saul.
Referee: Melero López (Andalusian Committee). He showed a yellow card to Griezmann, Barrios and Saúl for Atlético de Madrid, and Capoue and Parejo for Villarreal.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the thirtieth day of the EA Sports League played at the La Cerámica stadium in Vila-real before 19,679 spectators. In the run-up to the match, a minute of silence was held in memory of Batiste González, a former Villarreal player in the 1950s, who recently died.
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2024-04-13 02:06:32