Athletic said agur in third place

Athletic was bathed in reality yesterday in San Mamés. The lions succumbed to an Atlético de Madrid team that was once again the faithful image of their coach. The lone goal from Griezmann, always ready to make the Bilbao team’s day bitter, marked the difference in an intense match, without too many scoring opportunities and with too many delays.

The colchoneros had a party. Valverde had already warned the day before that he disagreed with those who said Simeone’s team lacked goals. The Gasteiz coach emphasized that the Madrid players did not need to come many times to score a goal because the shots of their strikers were of high quality and within three sticks. The French international came to confirm the statements of the Athletic coach.

Lions want and cannot cope with a reinforced concrete containment system. Oblak’s injury, who was replaced in the second half by Grbic, or Atletico’s insistence did not prevent Griezmann’s goal from being enough revenue for three new points to fly away from San Mamés.

Atlético overtook Athletic in third position. This match was very similar to others seen between rivals in Bilbao with identical coaches on their benches. For the test, in any case, it did not remain.

vesga, headline

Valverde changed his starting lineup four days later. A change. Vesga regained his position as the pivot in midfield at the expense of Dani García.

Nor did Simeone change his team too much with respect to the one that came from measuring Bruges in the Champions League. Two man-for-man variations with, yes, a different game system. De Paul and Morata came in for Saúl and Correa respectively with the mattress team distributed in a 1-4-4-2.

The start of the shock is dizzying. Lekue soon averted greater evils for the lions by expecting Morata and Iñaki Williams, who were unmarked, to step up. All this before the end of minute 4. After five came the controversial move of the night. Long ball for Morata, Yeray falls to the grass in his career with the mattress striker, he beats Unai Simón, the referee scores the goal for the first time and then, after going through the VAR, invalidates it when he notices something local foul. protector

Equality continued to prevail throughout an intense first half, played at a fast pace by both sides and with hardly any concessions or scoring chances. Two high and deflected shots from Sancet and little more.

The second half started late due to a net problem and an Atlético goal. Griezmann, after Morata’s pass, beat Unai Simón with his right foot. His first league goal as a mattress player came at San Mamés.

The lions, pulling the scoreboard, looked for ways to access the visiting frame, but they could not find before the rival defensive solidity. Valverde then pulled Raúl García. Simeone responded with a triple change. Oblak, injured, had to make way for Grbic. Saúl and Correa entered together. The scene hasn’t changed one iota.

The Athletic coach tried Zarraga and Villalibre while the Atlético coach completed his substitution chapter with the simultaneous additions of Witsel and Joao Félix. Raúl García then forced the newly incorporated Grbic to intervene. Valverde’s last attempt was rooted in the entry of Vivian and Dani García.

The stopped ball became from there the last resource of the lions. Grbic dominated again with a header from point-blank range by Iñigo Martínez in a play that ended with a penalty handed by Reinildo that the referee, after reviewing the action on VAR, invalidated. A few minutes later, Atlético’s own defender stopped a point-blank shot by Raúl García from equalizing.

ATHLETICS

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ATHLETIC

Athletic: First Simon; De Marcos, Yeray (Vivian, m.86), Íñigo Martínez, Lekue; Vesga (Dani García, m.86), Sancet (Zarraga, m.79), Muniain (Raúl García, m.66); Nico Williams (Villalibre, m.79), Berenguer and Iñaki Williams.

Atletico Madrid: Oblak (Grbic, m.69); Molina, Savic, Giménez, Reinildo; Koke (Witsel, m.81), Kondogbia, De Paul (Saúl, m.69), Lemar (Joao Félix, m.81); Griezmann and Morata (Correa, m.69).

Purpose: 0-1, m.47: Griezmann.

Referee: Jorge Figueroa Vázquez (Andalusian Committee). He showed yellow cards to visitors Giménez (m.36), Morata (m.57), Oblak (m.68), Saúl (m.85), Witsel (m.91), Grbic (m.95) and coach Diego Simeone (m.11).

VAR Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernández (Catalan Committee).

Happenings: The match on the ninth day of the Santander League was played in San Mamés before 48,391 spectators, according to official data. The best post-pandemic entry and the fourth in the history of the new field. Before the match, the parts of Gaztedi Sokatira Taldea, world champion of soka tira, held an honorary kick-off.

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