Atletico Madrid and Real Valladolid played out a five-goal thriller at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla where the visitors edged past Valladolid by one goal.
Goals from Nikola Kalinic and Antoine Griezmann handed Atletico a 2-0 lead at half-time, but the hosts fought back to draw level through Fernando Calero and an own goal from Saul Niguez. Eventually, Griezmann rounded up a memorable night with the winner in the 80th minute to make it 3-2.
We take a look at some of the talking points from the game.
Fortune favours the brave. Or does it?
The 2-3 scoreline might seem a bit unfair to the hosts, who put on a gallant show against the Europa League winners. Valladolid enjoyed more possession, created more chances and had a better command on the game than Atletico did.
In a game of fine margins, the hosts came dangerously close to scoring on quite a few occasions. Oscar Plano was not able to keep his shot down after a golden chance to restore parity in the first half. Minutes later, Enes Unal saw his shot go inches wide from the post and away from a helpless Jan Oblak.
A cross from Keko in the second half was deflected into his own goal by Stefan Savic and Oblak had to be at his reflexive best to keep it out.
Valladolid can be proud of putting up a brilliant fight against one of the best teams in the league. But in all fairness, the hosts deserved at least a point from the encounter.
Griezmann – Atletico’s silver lining
It was a day to forget for head coach Diego Simeone as he watched his team get outplayed by 12th-placed Real Valladolid. It took a stroke of individual brilliance from Griezmann to ensure that Los Colchoneros stayed hot on the heels of table toppers Barcelona.
The Frenchman was the heart of their attacks as he sat deep and created plenty of chances for Kalinic and Vitolo. Griezmann threaded the needle with his pass to Kalinic which led to Atletico’s first goal. The forward then doubled their lead at the stroke of half-time with a perfectly taken penalty.
In the 80th minute, the World Cup winner slotted home the winner for the visitors as he shot from an angle in a congested Valladolid box.
With a performance like this, Griezmann ends Simeone’s search for a reason to smile after this off-night.
Atletico Madrid need to show how bad they want it
Diego Simeone.
It’s rather uncommon that both Real Madrid and Barcelona fail to assert themselves in La Liga.
Atletico should have exploited a situation like this and ended up at the top of the table with a five-point lead by now. However, Simeone’s men have performed poorly this season and Madrid’s failure has served as a smokescreen to this.
Apart from shades of individual brilliance from Griezmann, Rodri and Oblak, Atletico have nothing to brag about and are barely scraping through results. Their biggest strength – the unbreachable defence – has shown its cracks, despite what the numbers say.
The opponents are respected a bit too much, allowed more touches in Atletico’s half and the box is bombarded with a lot of crosses. The game against Valladolid was no different.
It’s luck and Oblak that has covered the defensive flaws at Atletico, something that cannot be sustained for the entire season.