A traditional winger’s start with a lethal back pass for Almada and a miraculous stop by Oblak with time running out consummated the victory of a good Atlético against a competitive Osasuna that defended and attacked when it could.
1
Jan Oblak, Nico Gonzalez (Giuliano Simeone, min. 42), Dávid Hancko, José María Giménez, Marcos Llorente, Robin Le Normand, Koke (Conor Gallagher, min. 53), Álex Baena (Thiago Almada, min. 62), Pablo Barrios, Antoine Griezmann (Alexander Sørloth, min. 54) y Julián Alvarez (Giacomo Raspadori, min. 81)
0
Sergio Herrera, Jorge Herrando (Raúl García, min. 73), Enzo Boyomo, Alejandro Catena, Jon Moncayola (Iker Muñoz, min. 84), Abel Bretones, Valentin Rosier (Iker Benito, min. 40), Lucas Torró (Kike Barja, min. 73), Ante Budimir, Rubén García (Moi Gómez, min. 62) and Víctor Muñoz (Sheraldo Becker, min. 84)
Goals
1-0 min. 68: Thiago Almada
Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea
yellow cards
Koke (min. 29), Catena (min. 65), Raul García de Haro (min. 80), Flavien-Enzo Boyomos (min. 89)
Osasuna took the ball from the center and Catena kept the ball under the sole of his boot for 15 seconds due to what they consider to be a lack of detailed information from LaLiga about the match to be played in Miami between Villarreal and Barcelona on December 20. The break contrasted with the frenetic start with which Atlético made an appearance. With an eleven to which Giménez returned, absent since the Club World Cup, Nico González mutated to left-footed winger in defense and Baena regained the starting position after the appendicitis for which he underwent surgery after the first League game against Espanyol. A nice team to watch due to the ability of Baena, Barrios, Julián Alvarez and Griezmann to play inside and the breadth and depth of Llorente and Nico González. The sixth gear gave Atlético a chance to exhaust Osasuna, who Julián Alvarez discovered with the periscope two gaps between his centre-backs to summon first Griezmann and then Baena with Sergio Herrera. The Frenchman wanted to decorate himself with a spoon that did not work, although the assistant had already raised the flag. Baena was more practical and beat the Miranda goalkeeper with a soft cross touch. The VAR called the referee for the review and he interpreted that Griezmann, in an advanced position, intervened in the play by colliding with Boyomo and preventing him from going to cut the pass. Simeone and his players angrily protested the decision, considering that Boyomo would not have been able to prevent the ball from reaching Baena.
Atlético did not slow down, but Osasuna increased them, with the fast Víctor Muñoz lighting the fuse of their attacks. The Osasuna coach, , has tried to instill the taste for vertical football with just a few touches that he implemented with Mirandés and with which he came close to promotion. The Osasuna flood gave way to an exchange of blows. Víctor Muñoz threatened with a drive linked to a shot that scared Oblak and the Slovenian goalkeeper had to put his hand in a strategic play that led to a shot at the far post by Torró. In the other area, Herrera blocked a point-blank shot by Griezmann after a fine and fast combination between Nico González, Julián Alvarez and Barrios. Osasuna ended that pendulum match more strongly, with Torró, Moncayola and Moi Gómez blocking Atlético’s attempts to break through the middle. A blow to the head of Nico González in an aerial dispute forced the application of the protocol when the Argentine felt dizzy. Giuliano, the one sacrificed in the eleven, came in to recompose the drawing with Hancko on the left side. The coach’s son, with a couple of starts, already left signs that he could be transcendent to open a game that went into halftime without goals.
Atlético burst in after the restart with another cyclone of attacks to pin Osasuna in their area. The red and whites broke mostly from the right, but the centers could not find a finisher. So Simeone decided to bring on Sorloth for Griezmann and Gallagher for Koke. Air power and legs due to the pause of the two veterans who have tempered the team in the face of the need for victories due to the points lost at the beginning of the championship. Julián Alvarez ran into Herrera after a delicious and damaging ball filtered by Llorente. In the subsequent corner kick, Giménez did not control the direction of his hairstyle well after Herrera’s false start. With those chances unsuccessful, the duel entered dangerous territory for Atlético because Osasuna began to see spaces to run against Atlético’s charge. Simeone operated again and sat Baena down to put Almada in. Talent for talent, but at first glance, without Griezmann and without Koke, it seemed that the rojiblancos had lost finesse and vision to filter passes. It was Giuliano who raised his hand to say that there were also solutions on the side. He nailed his pair with that powerful acceleration that he exhibits to gain the baseline and his center back was pushed by Almada on the first ball he touched.
Atlético continued to be bossy, but they struck less and worried Herrera less. Lisci’s team attempted a final push and were able to reach the tie if Oblak’s expected role as miracle goalkeeper did not emerge. The Slovenian took a shot from Budimir, without a mark and with a lot of uncovered goal to score. A save that highlights a goalkeeper who has conceded more goals than usual and in some of them he could have done more. Good news for a team that has a high-profile commitment on Tuesday with its visit to Arsenal. A duel to confirm that the derby and the match against Eintracht have marked the path for what to play.
