Atlético Madrid grabs next to the lead with Antoine Griezmann’s return

Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 4:02 PM• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 16:06

No leading role for Antoine Griezmann on Sunday afternoon on his return to Atlético Madrid. Nevertheless, the visitors narrowly won 1-2 against Espanyol. The French attacker was taken off by trainer Diego Simeone after 58 minutes of play. Griezmann left Barcelona in the closing stages of the summer transfer window to return to his old love from Madrid. Before the match against Espanyol, expectations were high, especially because he would form a duo with Luis Suárez in the front. Thomas Lemar was the great hero of Atlético nine minutes into injury time.

The alert goalkeeper Jan Oblak prevented Espanyol from taking an early lead through Adrián Embarba in the fourth minute with a feline reflex. The missed opportunity was the start of an exciting opening phase, with Griezmann heading the ball over the goal after more than fifteen minutes of play. Suárez also showed himself midway through the first half, but his shot to the right side of the box was too high. Espanyol then got stronger and the dominance resulted in the opening goal in the fortieth minute. Raúl de Tomás beautifully headed the ball from the center of the box into the bottom right corner, following a measured corner from Embarba.

Atlético wanted to clear the deficit before the halftime signal. Yannick Carrasco came on a pass from Griezmann in a promising position. However, the midfielder’s shot from inside the penalty area flew over the goal. At halftime, Simeone intervened by bringing in Geoffrey Kondogbia, Thomas Lemar and Renan Lodi for Mario Hermoso, Kieran Trippier and Ángel Correa. The changes ensured that the visitors got a better grip on the game. Lemar also seemed to take care of the 1-1, but after a check with the VAR it became clear that the midfielder from France had scored in an offside position. Shortly afterwards, Griezmann was relieved in the 58th minute by João Félix.

With twenty minutes left on the clock, Suárez also blew the retreat, with Matheus Cunha as his replacement in the vanguard. Atlético kept fighting for a point and their fighting spirit was rewarded with a goal in minute 79. Carrasco hit from a difficult hook on the left side of the penalty area. A major setback for Espanyol, who nevertheless continued to look for the winning goal. A bang from distance from Embarba was blocked in time by the Atlético defense. In the tenth minute of the total of twelve minutes of stoppage time, Lemar emerged as the great hero of Simeone’s team by popping the ball hard into the top right corner. Atlético is now the leader, with ten points from four matches. Real Madrid will be level with a win over Celta de Vigo on Sunday evening.