There may be a team that is capable of coming out on top after missing clear chances, showing little consistency, suffering the incomprehensible award of a non-existent penalty, having bad luck and having to play at home in an atmosphere rarified by the animation strike in the background south. Atleti is not that team. Weighted down by all these factors, the red and white suffered a bitter defeat against Lille that leaves them in a complicated situation in the Champions League.
It is so true that watching the development of the first half it was difficult to think that the game would end the way it did, as more than one person had the fly behind their ear at half-time when they saw that the advantage was only 1-0, when The normal thing is that the match would have already been completely decided for the red and whites. At the beginning everything seemed to be in favor. For example, a rival whose coach left several of his best players on the bench to give minutes to other less common players. Among them, a 19-year-old center back who had barely played this season, Toure, who soon became aware of his new age. After eight minutes, he made a serious mistake when he gave a pass to his goalkeeper that fell very short. Julián Álvarez was ready to intercept the ball and beat Chevalier.
Earlier, Sorloth had had a clear opportunity but his shot from a slightly cornered position in the big area in front of the goalkeeper was so poor that the ball went over the opposite touchline. Simeone initially chose to bring together the attacking trident that everyone asks of him: Griezmann, Julián and Sorloth, with Koke, Gallagher and De Paul behind. The French pressed high to hinder the Atlético team’s exit, but with patience, good starts from Galán and support from Griezmann, they kept the ball. The injury to one of the few regular starters who had appeared for Lille, Cabella, seemed to be another good news for the locals. It really wasn’t like that, because in his place came the skilled Zhegrova, who ended up being important for his team.
Lille’s advanced position meant that they left gaps, a risk when faced with Griezmann, who pulled out a wonderful pass from his hat to leave Sorloth in front of Chevalier. On this occasion, the Norwegian kicked the ball, but the goalkeeper remained standing and rejected the shot. A few minutes later, another brilliant service from Antoine, this time from close to the touchline behind the defense to find Sorloth in the area with everything in his favor, but his right-footed shot went wide. It is so true that the Norwegian moved well to have those chances and that a high-level striker cannot miss three such clear options. That was the origin of everything that came after.
Griezmann also served another good pass into the area that Giménez finished off with a header and only a great handball from Chevalier prevented it from being the second. Just before going to the locker room, Lille gave the first scare with a shot by Zhegrova in the area, which went high.
One of Atleti’s problems is that they cannot play a complete game at a good level. Some days he naps in the first half and wakes up in the second and other times it is the other way around, as happened on this occasion. He slowed down, he forgot what he had done well, inaccuracies arrived, the midfield no longer commanded, and Lille, who had arrived alive at that moment, grew. And sometimes there are no consequences, but this time he paid for it. A French arrival from the poorly defended right wing ended in Zhegrova, who from outside the area hit a left foot shot that hit Giménez’s head, causing him to take a parabola that made Oblak’s stretch impossible to make it 1-1 in the 61st minute. .
After having forgiven so much and seeing how the rival punished you with his first shot on goal, Atleti accused the blow. Sorloth left and Correa entered, Griezmann had a chance after Julián’s cross in which he was forced to finish with his foot instead of with his head, which seemed the most appropriate, and the ball went away from him. The French coach saw the moment to bring in his starting scorer, Jonathan David. And that was when an unexpected protagonist appeared to resolve the match.
A ball hanging into the area ended with the visitor André touching the ball with his hand as it fell to the ground with his teammate Alexsandro and Koke next to him. Surprisingly, the Italian referee Marco Guida pointed to the penalty spot, no one understands why, although after the game, the red and whites said that he told them it was a handball. He may have seen something that was not the case, but in the era of VAR it is inexplicable that they did not correct him. The truth is that Jonathan David converted the maximum penalty, making it 1-2 in the 75th minute.
Simeone brought in Reinildo, Giuliano and Lino for Nahuel, Gallagher and Galán as an emergency solution. Lino had a cross shot that Chevalier took for a corner and Giuliano was about to achieve the tie in a shot that a defender took with the goalkeeper beaten. And from what could have been 2-2, it went to 1-3 in a shot in the area by David, who was fortunate that Reinildo deflected it into the net, a circumstance that is all too common in many goals conceded by the athletics.
With only one victory in three games and having to play the next game at PSG’s home, Atleti’s path in the Champions League has been complicated. Worse than their current ranking is the feeling that the team has too many loose ties and an unhelpful environment.
There may be a team that is capable of coming out on top after missing clear chances, showing little consistency, suffering the incomprehensible award of a non-existent penalty, having bad luck and having to play at home in an atmosphere rarified by the animation strike in the background south. Atleti is not…
#ties #untied
