- Vital victory for Atlético de Madrid against Feyenoord, which relied on Oblak’s effectiveness and saves
- An ultra offensive Feyenoord went ahead on the scoreboard on two occasions and surpassed Simeone’s team in terms of play and intensity.
- Morata and Griezmann equalized before the break and the Spanish international himself scored 3-2 with a great pass from Molina.
- Atlético, at the limit of their strength and energy, withstood the harassment of the Dutch in the second half.
- Simeone, forceful: “In Europe we suffer because the Spanish championship is lower right now.”
It may seem strange at this point in the season to settle for what Atlético de Madrid saw at the Metropolitano , but the context must be taken into account. And the Colchonero team comes from four games in ten days, with seven and eight losses in the last games; with a key footballer without adequate rhythm after returning from injury; with a rotation of 13 or 14 players maximum; having to endure real battles such as the derby, Cádiz ‘s comeback, El Sadar ‘s harassment or the infernal match that Feyenoord gave them .
That’s why, yes. Maybe Feyenoord were better, maybe they deserved to win, maybe they generated twice as many chances and shots, maybe they surprised many with their speed and irreverence; but the reality at this point is that for Atlético the important thing was to survive, to come out of this group of games winning, especially this one in the Champions League . And Simeone ‘s team did it, clinging to the effectiveness of Morata, to the measured passes of Molina , to the miracles of Oblak . But he did it. There will be time to rebuild the team and get closer to that potential version that he demonstrated in Vallecas, with all its employees healthy and plugged in. Now it was time to get the matches and Atlético achieved a very important victory against Arne Slot ‘s team , who will still be thinking about how it was possible for them to miss the match.
It may seem strange at this point in the season to settle for what Atlético de Madrid saw at the Metropolitano , but the context must be taken into account. And the Colchonero team comes from four games in ten days, with seven and eight losses in the last games; with a key footballer without adequate rhythm after returning from injury; with a rotation of 13 or 14 players maximum; having to endure real battles such as the derby, Cádiz ‘s comeback, El Sadar ‘s harassment or the infernal match that Feyenoord gave them .
That’s why, yes. Maybe Feyenoord were better, maybe they deserved to win, maybe they generated twice as many chances and shots, maybe they surprised many with their speed and irreverence; but the reality at this point is that for Atlético the important thing was to survive, to come out of this group of games winning, especially this one in the Champions League . And Simeone ‘s team did it, clinging to the effectiveness of Morata, to the measured passes of Molina , to the miracles of Oblak . But he did it. There will be time to rebuild the team and get closer to that potential version that he demonstrated in Vallecas, with all its employees healthy and plugged in. Now it was time to get the matches and Atlético achieved a very important victory against Arne Slot ‘s team , who will still be thinking about how it was possible for them to miss the match.
The Metropolitano game started hysterically, without even those minutes of courtesy that two rivals who usually never play against each other usually give each other. Those moments to study yourself, to glimpse weaknesses and gaps that your enemy may leave.
Atlético de Madrid ‘s idea was to go out for the game, but what the Colchonero team found at the start of the Metropolitano clash was an ultra daring Feyenoord , who pressed like a pack of wolves. Arne Slot ‘s team surprised the red and white team at the start of the game, not only because of its high positioning but also because of its ability to steal and its speed when attacking. Thus, in the first time the Dutch team had, he scored. A deep pass for Ueda and in line with Atlético ‘s nonsense in recent times in the Champions League, the Japanese threw himself to the ground, the ball bounced off Oblak , hit Hermoso who was accompanying the Japanese and entered the net.
It was clear that, in this start, there was a difference in speed in the execution of the movements. The Feyenoord players were moving in sixth and the Atlético players were not even in third. Very surprising considering that Simeone ‘s men were supposed to be warned of what could happen if they failed, as happened in the previous season. Especially considering that in the last three years, yes, three years, Atlético had only won one home game in the Champions League . Without the ability to assimilate the lesson, Simeone ‘s men were shocked, stunned, with a look of not understanding what was happening and who were those guys in dark blue who were running around like relatives of ‘Flash’.
Everything was as surreal as, immediately afterwards, on a loose ball, Zerrouki , a defensive pivot, almost scored from the center of the field as Fali touched him a few days ago with Cádiz . Oblak didn’t understand anything, he looked at his teammates as if to say ‘but man, I’m going to have a heart attack.’
It took almost a quarter of an hour for Atlético to settle into the game, but there was a huge meadow between the midfielders and the mattress attack. Luckily for Simeone ‘s team , they had a guy like De Paul , capable of threading a needle from 30 meters away. The Argentine invented a deep pass, between the center back and the winger, for Saúl . Wieffer launched himself to cut it, with bad luck for him that the ball remained dead in the area, where Morata quickly advanced and hit it with the inside of his left foot to tie the match in the 13th minute.
With Saúl being offside, referee François Letexier initially disallowed the goal. But in the VAR review it was seen that the man from Elche was not even close to the ball and that it had reached Morata ‘s feet due to Wieffer ‘s poor clearance .
The goal woke up Atlético , who realized that in the Champions League you can’t play walking. Less if your rival is on a motorcycle. And Feyenoord lowered their audacity a little because they saw that Simeone ‘s men had arguments to hurt them. The Colchonero team came close to scoring the second goal on two occasions. First, a ride from Nahuel Molina who stood in the area to see Morata at the far post and when the Spanish international licked his lips, captain Trauner somehow magically took the ball over the post, when the easiest thing to do was to put it in. .
Immediately afterwards, Koke hooked a volley from the edge of a corner kick that skimmed Wellenreuther ‘s post .
ATLETICO, OVERCOMED AGAIN
After this peak of mattress energy, Feyenoord returned to sixth gear. Suffocating pressure, with the Dutch team’s midfielders coming out to cover every time the Atlético midfielders wanted to receive in the midfield. On many occasions they had to do so facing Oblak ‘s goal , without having the speed or space to turn around. The mattress team was foundering in the midfield and was not even capable of inventing a deep pass to alternate the formula and make its rival, at least, hesitate.
Paixao touched the second visitor with a sharp shot, going towards the center, to which Oblak responded remarkably. It wasn’t there, but the next time, in a very intelligent strategic move, Feyenoord took the lead again. Free kick from the front, quite far away, in which David Hancko took advantage of a good screen from his teammates against Saúl, to gain the back, stand alone against Oblak , finish, the Slovenian repelled the ball and, being so alone, clinch in rejection.
GRIEZMANN HUNTS THE TIE
The feeling was that Feyenoord was closer to third than Atlético to second. It was played on Atlético ‘s field . Trauner , passing by an omnipresent Stengs , narrowly missed the goal. The best thing that could happen to the Colchonero team was for half-time to arrive, but the god of football, who has played so many times with the red and white team, had the small gesture of creating chaos in the Dutch area in the last play of the first half. .
Lino went in, after a corner kick, he fell while shooting, the ball went in a parabola, Timber was distressed when jumping with Witsel , the ball bounced and Griezmann , with his back to the goal, left the game as he had started, in a tie. Of course, after about 45 minutes of vertigo and madness such as had rarely been seen in the Metropolitano .
RESUMPTION AND AGAIN MORATA
Simeone had seen what everyone had seen, that Atlético was being surpassed in the midfield. He brought in Llorente for a De Paul still lacking rhythm after returning from injury. He had not yet given time to see if the change took effect when the Colchonero team scored 3-2. Molina invented a center close to the touchline, very far away. Morata appeared from behind to put the sole of his foot and put Atlético ahead for the first time in the match. Again, with a Colchonero player, this time Griezmann , in positional offside. A circumstance that the Feyenoord players claimedfor understanding that his presence had indeed conditioned the play. Neither the referee nor the VAR understood it that way.
The goal did not change the momentum of the match, because Arne Slot ‘s team showed that it is serious. He launched himself into the attack again and broke lines with ease. The Rotterdam team had twice the number of shots and chances than Simeone’s team, it seemed like the local team. Everything indicated that the match was not going to end without more goals being scored. Atlético returned to the state of rest, passive, defensive .
He triangulated in such a way that he left Stengs alone against Oblak , only a poor final control prevented the tall Feyenoord player from scoring. Immediately afterwards, Paixao , another headache for the Atlético team, invented a shot that contained gunpowder and hit the corner.
The Brazilian thing was crazy. He always made the same play, from the top of the large area, towards the interior, to unleash a shot. And in all of them he won on par with him, whether it was Molina or Azpilicueta . Oblak did not win for scares, like the one in which he tried to place it from the top of the large area in the farthest corner. He was missing centimeters.
Feyenoord smelled blood and did not stop accumulating chances throughout the match in which Oblak became the ‘ MVP ‘ . He had already won heads-up against Stengs and minutes later he did the same against Minteh . The Slovenian became as big as a handball goalkeeper to kick it out.
The final stretch of the clash was an attempt to hold on by Simeone ‘s team , because their strength was no longer enough. He had to resist, because he resists, he wins.