Atlético redeems itself in Bilbao

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Atlético took the points from San Mamés and a boost in self-esteem after the European tie that left them on the tightrope.

He hadn't won in the Cathedral for four years and he did it in a Simeone-style match, breaking and tearing, without concessions and in which Griezmann, Athletic's recurring nightmare, appeared to make a good move by Morata, the only action Drinking of the visitors in the second part.

Enough to tame a rival who did not find the ways to balance.

ATHAthletic

0

Unai Simón, Lekue, Yeray (Daniel Vivian, min. 85), De Marcos, Íñigo Martínez, Vesga (Dani García, min. 85), O. Sancet (Oier Zarraga, min. 79), Muniain (Raúl García, min. 66), Nico Williams (Villalibre, min. 79), Berenguer and Williams

ATM Athletic

1

Oblak (Ivo Grbic, min. 68), Nahuel Molina, Savic, Reinildo Mandava, Giménez, Lemar (João Félix, min. 81), Koke (Witsel, min. 81), Kondogbia, De Paul (Correa, min. 68) , Griezmann and Morata (Saúl, min. 68)

Goals

0-1 min.

46: Griezmann.

Referee

Jorge Figueroa Vazquez

Yellow cards Giménez (min. 35), Morata (min. 56), Oblak (min. 67), Saúl (min. 84), Witsel (min. 91) and Ivo Grbic (min. 94)

The welcome from the stands could not have been more polite, as well as a reminder of past times.

"Welcome to the parents' house", read the mural in Basque from side to side behind one of the goals, the one defended by Unai Simón in the first part, but it was nothing but courtesy, because arriving at the parents' house, After so many decades of emancipation, it did not mean that Atlético was going to be able to sit on the sofa and pick up the remote control.

Those were not, at least, Ernesto Valverde's plans.

In the first few minutes, his team tested Atlético's defensive weakness from set pieces.

As soon as it started, a free-kick launched by Muniain was finished off without resistance by Iñaki Williams, but the header is not his thing.

He has eight goals like that in his career and he never got two in the same season.

Against Almería he covered the quota.

In another throw to the area by the Athletic captain, it had to be Oblak who came out with his fists, halfway up to the Bermuda triangle that had engulfed the mattress defenders.

It was the first risk action in the chain of outings that exposed the Slovenian goalkeeper to physical wear.

They would end up paying for his right shoulder, because of his substitution in the second part of the game.

Of course, Atlético did not remain silent.

The visiting team silenced San Mamés before minute 10, in a long ball that Morata controlled before Yeray fell, and that ended up in the net.

He fine-tuned the VAR a lot to see the striker's lack of defense.

After several repetitions, only the referees continued to see an infraction and annulled the goal to the displeasure of Simeone, who was cautioned from the set.

Athletic got a little scared after the scare, Atlético withdrew well and peace came to the areas, because the people of Madrid overwhelmed Vesga and Muniain in the midfield, who could not maneuver, or connect with the bands, overwhelmed many times by Griezmann's pressure, and on the flanks, Niko Williams and Berenguer were overshadowed by the solidity of Reinildo and Molina, who took the job like a day at the mine.

Pick and shovel.

And so the first part passed, without frights for Unai or Oblak and the vital signs of the game at a minimum.

More information

Video with the summary and the goal of Athletic-Athletic

The second began with bad omens, although it was not known for whom.

The start was delayed several minutes by a hole in Oblak's goal net.

It was immediately clear who the bad luck fell on, because in a Morata run down the right, in which he came up the wing, the pass behind him was thanked by Griezmann, Athletic's black beast, to put Atlético ahead .

As expected, Simeone withdrew his team, continued without letting Athletic's brains think and ordered the lines to avoid setbacks.

He set up a wall, or something similar, entrusted to Morata's raids, which was encapsulated between Athletic's central defenders.

The people from Bilbao tightened, and surrounded Oblak's goal, who suffered from a previous blow and had to leave his position to Grbic, who worked the minutes he was on the field, first putting his hand into a center that he intended to finish off Williams, and then responding with great reflexes to Iñigo Martínez's header from a corner kick.

The play ended in a penalty signaled by the referee and annulled by the VAR.

Figueroa had seen an arm, and in reality it was a head.

Atlético struggled in the discount, in which Athletic turned, but their efforts crashed into a forest of legs.

Joao Felix, who left in the last quarter of an hour, was not the subject, this time, of any controversy.

When the ball enters, there is no debate.

Often happens.

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