Mired in the mud, in a relegation position and after five games in a row without winning, Sevilla clung to salvation with a vital victory against an Atlético with minimal services, which has accumulated its third consecutive defeat in the League. A team, the one from Madrid, with its mind set on something else and that made the path and its attitude easier. They must not be very happy in Vitoria, Elche or Mallorca with Simeone’s decision, but that is not a problem for Sevilla, who won with two goals from set pieces and an exercise of faith in defense against a rival that barely wanted to fight. However, Sevilla had to suffer, because it is pure flan and has very few football arguments. The final stretch was an ordeal for the Andalusians, stuck behind, desperately getting balls out. Sevilla resisted, breaking their losing streak and being able to breathe, a lot, in their fight to stay.
2
Odysseas Vlachodimos, Juanlu Sánchez (Gabriel Suazo, min. 93), Andrés Castrín, Oso, Nemanja Gudelj, Kike Salas, Rubén Vargas (Alexis Sánchez, min. 77), Isaac Romero (Peque Fernández, min. 69), Lucien Agoumé, Manu Bueno (Djibril Sow, min. 69) y Akor Adams (Batista Mendy, min. 93)
1
Juan Musso, Julio Díaz (Jano Monserrate, min. 85), Dani Martinez, Marc Pubill, Javier Boñar, Rodrigo Mendoza (Javier Morcillo, min. 70), Rayane Belaid (Ademola Lookman, min. 70), Álex Baena, Thiago Almada, Obed Vargas y Alexander Sørloth
Goals
1-0 min. 9: Akor Adams. 1-1 min. 34: . 2-1 min. 46: Gudelj
Referee Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos
yellow cards
Manu Bueno (min. 35), Julio Díaz (min. 43), Juanlu Sanchez (min. 66), Griezmann (min. 74), Álex Baena (min. 74), Gudelj (min. 87), Javier Morcillo (min. 94), Peque (min. 95)
The reversal of Sevilla, who began the clash in relegation positions after Elche’s victory, is terrifying. Not even a start of great faith and a goal after 10 minutes through a penalty from the young Dani Martínez against the smart Isaac scored by Akor served to calm the spirits of a broken team, unable for many minutes to be competitive against an Atlético team full of kids and substitutes (up to four players from the starting reserve team). Simeone’s men, sanctioned in the stands, have a lot at stake next week in the Cup final, so they went out to the Sánchez Pizjuán without competitive ardor. But their game was good in the first half, with their players quite loose and Almada as conductor.
Sevilla, after such a strong start, went back and allowed Atlético to dominate. Boñar tied with a header after a cross from the other full-back, Julio Díaz, and fear took over Nervión. In the rain, the worst was expected from the Sevilla fans. His team, full of youth players, up to six in the starting eleven, looked overwhelmed by Atlético. It can’t be easy to play with so much tension. He chose to field homegrown players, aware of the extra that the Sevilla heart can impose. Sevilla suffered with the tie, but they were saved by the incompetence of Atlético’s defense, with three players from the reserve team, which allowed Gudelj to finish inside the area after a corner taken by Vargas. The Serbian didn’t even have to jump to connect a wonderful header. The set piece gave Sevilla a very important victory at half-time.
Atlético dropped a lot in the second half against a rival who was behind to defend their advantage and try to score the third goal on the counterattack. Isaac had the second goal with a shot against the post. Atlético played and played, for nothing, without exhausting the changes and with its mind set on what is coming. , which he celebrated as if it were a title. His people and his players are suffering a lot, so victories of this type keep this sick man alive.
“We were left with a short result for us. We were able to tie. It was not easy to start after 1-0, but we scored a good goal. I am left with the fact that the boys competed well. We competed, I imagined a match like that. The referee interpreted the penalty play and that’s it, what I think makes no sense,” said Atlético’s coach. “We have a plan and we are going to follow it. That’s why we put out this eleven,” he concluded.
“It was a game with many phases. We went ahead on the scoreboard and then the team backed down. I didn’t like it, but it’s normal, there is a lot of blocking. We all wanted to protect too much, without the ball, and in that we must improve,” said the Sevilla coach. “In the second half we were perfect. They didn’t create any danger for us and we had options to score the third goal. That’s kind of the path we have to follow. We reached the end very stiff. Because I’m going to demand a lot of their efforts,” he added.
