and intensity in a good part of the match by a revitalized Real Sociedad, Atlético was left in Anoeta half of the League. The 1-1 draw leaves them 11 points behind the lead as of January 4, unable to keep up with the scoring pace of Madrid, Barca and Villarreal. Barely 20 minutes of good play did not allow Atlético to follow in the wake of a leading trio that has a higher cruising speed in adding points.
1
Álex Remiro, Duje Caleta-Car, Jon Martín, Jon Aramburu, Sergio Gómez, Gonçalo Guedes (Ander Barrenetxea, min. 71), Carlos Soler, Beñat Turrientes (Pablo Marín, min. 71), Takefusa Kubo (Arsen Zakharyan, min. 88), Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Méndez (Orri Óskarsson, min. 87)
1
Jan Oblak, Matteo Ruggeri (Robin Le Normand, min. 45), Marcos Llorente, Marc Pubill, Dávid Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Pablo Barrios (Conor Gallagher, min. 45), Álex Baena (Johnny Cardoso, min. 59), Koke (Giacomo Raspadori, min. 71), Alexander Sørloth y Julián Alvarez (Antoine Griezmann, min. 59)
Goals
0-1 min. 49: Sörloth. 1-1 min. 54: Gonçalo Guedes
Referee Juan Martínez Munuera
yellow cards
Gonçalo Guedes (min. 12), Matteo Ruggeri (min. 43), Caleta-Car (min. 46), Oyarzabal (min. 74), Giacomo Raspadori (min. 77)
The game was born vertically and at full speed, with the new coach of Real Sociedad. The American, a disciple of Julian Naggelsmann, ordered that football that is won with lightning attacks. Remove above and sew plays with few stitches. A burst from Kubo that hit Ruggeri and ended in a foul was the first warning. The second was a low shot from Oyarzabal after Atlético lost an easy ball. Atlético responded to that agitated Real with a short but intense reaction, in which Barrios seemed to want to establish himself as governor of the game with the help of Koke and Baena, who reappeared after his injury at the Camp Nou.
Atlético mixed the short game with the long game, with Sorloth fully involved in the job of combing balls and the red and white midfielders coming like wolves to the second plays. Julián Alvarez had the goal after a long corner kick by Hancko at the near post. that went up. The Atlético luminary worried Remiro again after Baena tempered a drop shot. This time he did not master control and the ball was left behind and difficult to direct when hitting. The darkness in front of the goal that marks the last months of the Argentine goalscorer seemed to continue at the start of the year.
Real surpassed that first blow from its rival. Turrientes and Soler imposed themselves in the middle while Atlético’s fluidity diminished. Brais Méndez made Oblak stretch with a hard but slightly cornered shot from outside the area. La Real misses the best version of the Galician playmaker. The action emboldened Real, which also took over the physical war that was waged in each dispute. Sorloth was no longer imposing in the aerial game and the inaccuracy in the pass and the lack of threat from the sides turned the red and whites into a flat team. La Real finished the first half with more ground than its rival and for a moment ahead on the scoreboard. A gloved and closed lateral foul by Soler was headed by Sorloth against Oblak’s goal. The VAR determined that Brais, who was offside in front of Sorloth, misled the Norwegian and the Slovenian goalkeeper.
Some discomfort forced Simeone to leave Barrios in the booth. Ruggeri was also replaced. In his case due to the threat that Kubo would punch him and get a second yellow card. Simeone does not fully trust the Italian left back, despite the flight he gives him as a starter in games in which he considers that he does not need extreme defensive security. Le Normand and Gallagher were the ones who entered the scene.
A powerful start from Giuliano that caught Sergio Gómez put Atlético in the lead. He had pause and courage to speed up his fast run and serve Sorloth a candy. The Norwegian resolved it with a definitive blow. A hard blow for Real, which could have collapsed almost in the next play when Giuliano triggered his team’s attack again with a ball to Baena, which left Gallagher one-on-one with Remiro. The Englishman wanted to win the duel by the closest post of the royalist goalkeeper and he was half an inch away. A cross shot was the best option. The kind of occasion that Simeone always remembers in terms of forcefulness.
Atlético did not punish and soon paid for it. Real killed him on a counterattack, taking advantage of the fact that Hancko had deployed in one of his attacking adventures in which he was left out as a center forward. Dynamite for Kubo, who found no rival to stand in his way when Brais Méndez made him run. The Japanese had time to raise his head and observe that Guedes stepped into the unmarked area. The Portuguese also had time to stop the ball, scan Oblak and beat him with a violent overhead hit.
The goal ignited Real. Turrientes and Kubo, who had already become a scourge for the red and whites, demanded Oblak with two low and tight shots. The situation made Simeone desperate, and he sent Julián Alvarez and Baena to the bench. Their two most decisive players left with a poor performance. The first in line with his last games, the second blaming the lack of rhythm. Griezmann and Cardoso did not transcend, and neither did Raspadori when he came on. Matarazzo also moved chips in search of victory. Oyarzabal claimed a penalty because he considered that Oblak knocked him down by blocking him with his hand when he was trying to dribble him. Real was better, but could have faced defeat if Griezmann had not decorated himself with a diving attempt that Remiro caught him. The Real goalkeeper did not sting the Frenchman’s threat, who had a lot of goal on his right to solve. Carlos Soler also had the victory, but his intentional shot from the edge of the area narrowly missed and left the duel in a draw that places Atlético eleven points behind the leader.
