From cold to heat

Another day of walking a tightrope, another day of having to come back, another day of allying with the last minutes, another day in which the changes have to fix a problem, another day that the result is ahead of the game, and another day that was not just another day. It was Cholo’s 700 games as Atleti coach and the afternoon ended as the red and white players wanted: being able to dedicate the victory to the coach, although the previous struggle to carry out the match was one of the good ones. Alavés were not up for celebrations and did everything they could to leave the Metropolitano with something positive. He was very close to achieving it.

It was the 7th minute of the game when Carlos Vicente put a cross into the area that Galán, absurdly, cut off with his raised hand just over the line of the large area. Error by the red-and-white side and a clear penalty that Guridi was in charge of converting by deceiving Oblak. It would be the only Vitorian shot on goal in the entire match. Seeing themselves ahead so soon, Luis García’s men chose to go back and complicate life for a team that, once again, showed that when it is forced to take the initiative of the game and find offensive solutions against a closed opponent, it has many issues.

And that happens because it is difficult for him to maintain a high pace of play, because he does not know how to move the ball at a higher speed to disarm a well-planted opponent, because he does not have an excess of unbalanced players and what they were yesterday at the start did not shine: Lino is not Last year, Llorente returned after two months out, Griezmann wants to be in several places, he spreads out and does not shine and Correa does not stand out in contexts where he has to act as the sole forward locked between defenses. Simeone had chosen to rest those who had been with his national teams, but right now composing an eleven without the threat of Julián and Sorloth and the energy of Giuliano takes away from the team’s offensive potential. There will be those who say that to beat Alavés it should be enough to win with what started at the beginning. Well yes, but not this time.

With this panorama, it is not strange that the red and white offensive baggage in the first 45 minutes is reduced to a clear scoring opportunity. A shot by Lino, after a shot from Griezmann, which crashed into the crossbar after touching goalkeeper Sivera with his face. The rest of the attempts were reduced to two shots by Llorente from outside the area well saved by the goalkeeper. Alavés did not leave its field, with Kike being an island in attack, but supported by the good performance of its defense, it barely suffered against a team that was “cold”, as its coach later defined.

At half-time, Simeone withdrew his two wings, Galán and Llorente to bring in Giuliano and Sorloth. The team gained attitude, intensity, advanced lines and pressed higher. He put more “heat” into it (Simeone said). With difficulty, but it began to generate more danger. Lenglet headed only a free kick in the area sent by Griezmann, but sent the ball wide. Giuliano received on the run to enter the area and finish with his left foot, Sivera avoiding the goal with the tip of his foot. The match was an exercise in attack against defense, but Alavés resisted and the minutes passed. Lino left and De Paul came in and shortly after, Riquelme replaced Koke.

The presence of Sorloth invites balls to be thrown into the area so that the Norwegian giant can look for the shot. That’s what De Paul did with a cross that was headed by the forward with Abqar close to him. The jump unbalanced the defender, who cut the ball with his arm, somewhat elevated, in an unnatural position. It is as certain that the action is involuntary as that the ball was going towards the goal. The referee García Verdura pointed out the penalty spot due to the anger of the visitors for such an unfortunate play. Griezmann was in charge of converting the maximum penalty with a strong shot from mid-height. It was the 76th minute.

Luis García, who had just made his first two changes before the goal, removing Kike and Guridi for Toni and Diarra, tried to contain the final Colchonero push by removing Carlos Martín and a physically punished Mouriño, to bring on Sedlar and Conechny. The plan did not work because in the 86th minute, a great pass filtered through the defense of De Paul found the unmarking of Sorloth, who inside the area in a slightly cornered position, connected a great shot with his right leg that sent the ball to the squad to complete the comeback. One more day, those who come off the bench end up being decisive in winning a game. The Argentine and the Norwegian seem to be creating a small partnership, because it is not the first match they have met with a final goal result.

In the remaining time, Alavés tried to generate in the attack what it had not done in the entire match and Atleti maintained the advantage comfortably with some opportunity to even score a little more, such as in a shot by Griezmann from the edge of the area that Sivera deflected to corner. Thus, with impulses and holding on to individual flashes in attack, the red and white team achieved its fifth consecutive victory in all competitions. There is still room for improvement. We hope that with good results comes good play.

Another day of walking a tightrope, another day of having to come back, another day of allying with the last minutes, another day in which the changes have to fix a problem, another day that the result is ahead of the game, and another day that was not just another day. They were Cholo’s 700 games as…