Three days after their European victory over Leipzig, Atlético de Madrid drew in Vallecas against a Rayo who took the lead in the first half through Isi Palazón, a goal that was neutralised in the second by the Englishman Conor Gallagher and which allowed the red-and-white team to add a point that leaves them six points behind the leader, Barcelona.
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Atlético de Madrid arrived in Vallecas with memories of last season, when they won 0-7, but also aware that the match was not going to be a walk in the park like it was on that occasion.
The red-and-white players were able to see this from the start, as they suffered high pressure from the home team, who were very combative. Despite this, Atlético did not feel uncomfortable and, true to their style, tried to dominate the game under the command of Koke and theirs was the first chance of the match, fourteen minutes in, when Abdul Munin cleared a ball back, Julián Álvarez failed to control it when everything was in his favour and it was the goalkeeper, Augusto Batalla, who ended up getting the ball.
Shortly afterwards, right in the middle of the first half, in the 22nd minute, Atlético could have taken the lead when Julián Álvarez unleashed a cross-shot from the left side that crashed into the crossbar, bringing the crowd to their feet. That was the action that made Rayo react, who, although they had not lost their composure, were playing a little at the mercy of their rival.
James Rodriguez
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The most incisive was Adrián Embarba, who made Nahuel Molina suffer a lot, although he did not participate in the first goal of his team, scored by Isi Palazón, who finished off an assist from Andrei Ratiu on the line after a good play by Jorge de Frutos. The goal took its toll on Atlético, who had to make their first change before the break due to an injury to César Azpilicueta. He was replaced by José María Giménez.
Diego Simeone took advantage of the break to make two more changes, bringing on two attacking players, the Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and the Argentine Ángel Correa, and also to refresh ideas, something that served him well because the team came out with a renewed air and five minutes after the restart they managed to equalise. Alexander Sorloth received a ball into space on the right flank, got away from Batalla, but with no angle he retreated, looked for a teammate and stepped to the centre which Conor Gallagher collected, with a tight shot, beating the Argentine goalkeeper low off the left post.
Rayo could not find a way to recover and cope with Atlético’s improvement and that is why Iñigo Pérez began to move his bench, first taking out Oscar Valentín and Sergio Camello and then James Rodriguez, who came into the match to a standing ovation from the crowd to play the last 20 minutes. He barely had a shot and played very little.
Neither of these players changed the dynamic of the match, which in the final minutes, although both teams tried to increase the pace, was without a clear dominator, with few chances and too much play in the middle of the field, even giving a feeling of boredom at times.
With this draw, Atlético de Madrid is in fourth place with 12 points, six behind Barcelona, while Rayo, with 8, remains in the middle of the table.
EFE
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