The early phases of the Spanish Championship (HM the King’s Cup) are usually a torment for first division teams. There is very little to gain, because there are very few positive readings that can be drawn from beating a team that competes in lower categories, and much to lose, since a defeat in such an unbalanced environment is usually a symptom of tragedy or reason for catastrophe. In the case at hand, the difference was even abysmal, since Unió Esportiva Vic, the team that Atlético de Madrid was facing, plays in a competition called Lliga Elit, which is part of regional football. To put it in perspective, it is the category to which the last classified members of the Third Federation are relegated, which is the fifth category of Spanish football. It goes without saying that all the players are amateurs and that they make a living off the field of play.
It may seem ironic, but I think it was not the ideal scenario for the current Atleti, a disoriented, poorly constructed and deeply scared team. What I didn’t think was that he would make a fool of himself again the way he did. A ridiculous thing that contrasts with the example of enthusiasm and waste of his rival, that Vic who has surely had one of the happiest nights in his history. A night that did not end in a Greek tragedy for Simeone’s team because of those final minutes in which their strength could no longer hold out and because of a referee who, as is usual, decided to be complacent with the powerful.
It is a complicated task, and surely absurd, to talk about the rojiblanco game today. To summarize, we could say that we have seen the same problems as always, despite the level of their rival: painful inability to create football, embarrassing inability to circulate the ball and obvious inability to score a goal. The first half, which was a pain to behold, was even even. How they hear it. Atleti had the ball more, yes, but it was like not having it. Maybe that’s why Simeone’s team tends to give up on him. The pace was slow, there was no continuity and hardly any plays were created. Correa had the first chance after a quarter of an hour, after a play by Gallagher that reached the area to leave the Argentine in front of the goalkeeper. The two of them were surely the only Colchoneros players who looked like they were from the first division in the first forty-five minutes.
And the rest? Well, between little and nothing. Two youth players played: Javi Serrano and Kostis. The first had a similar contribution to that of the corner flag. The second, somewhat better, made a blunder when he was the last man, which led to a chance for the rival. If they wanted to earn an opportunity, they got the opposite. It is true that many presumed starters of the first team were not very far away. Nahuel, for example, is likely not even a starter at Vic right now. A horizontal pass in the 18th minute caused the Catalans’ first opportunity (a long shot without much faith). There were more. Sørloth once again seemed like that big, clumsy footballer, with little quality to associate with, and with doubtful success in front of goal. His was the clearest chance, already in the 37th minute, when he missed again in front of the goalkeeper. It is true that in this case a local defender took the ball with his hand, in what should have been a penalty.
The Norwegian and the two youth players stayed on the bench in the second half. Logical. What is not logical is that Nahuel Molina was still on the pitch. The management that Simeone does with this player is incomprehensible. Galán, Koke and Lemar entered, providing some dynamism, but this was quickly diluted to return to the typical mode of zero depth, zero bite and zero danger. How would the situation be, when Julián Álvarez and Griezmann came out at game time? Thanks to them, the pace of the game increased a little, but the chances still didn’t come. The team also broke down, which Vic took advantage of to stretch out and roam around the mattress area.
With ten minutes left, Giuliano took advantage of one of the few plays his team made to enter from the right and fall into the area. The fall seemed strange to me live. In the replay, what it seems to me is that there was no foul. The referee, who was not of the sixth category, but as if he were, understood that there was contact and thanked Atleti with a penalty that Julián Álvarez converted and which served to save the night. The Argentine would score another goal later, with Vic dead on the grass and one player less due to Senye’s expulsion in the penalty play.
The match ended with a smile on the faces of the Catalan team and with a grimace on those from Madrid. It was no wonder. Atleti passed the round, but it was better not to dwell on how it had happened.
The early phases of the Spanish Championship (HM the King’s Cup) are usually a torment for first division teams. There is very little to gain, because there are very few positive readings that can be drawn from beating a team that competes in lower categories, and much to lose, since a…
#ridiculous
