Atlético Madrid ready for Liverpool after signed victory over Real Betis

Sunday, October 31, 2021 at 6:10 PM• Yanick Vos

Atlético Madrid scored an important victory in La Liga on Sunday evening. In front of its own audience, it was 3-0 too strong for Real Betis, so that it climbs from sixth to fourth place in the ranking. Yannick Carrasco opened the score in a beautiful way in the first half, after which an own goal in the second half turned out to be the final blow for the visitors from Seville. Ten minutes before the end, the final score was determined by substitute João Félix.

It was on or off the hook for the team of trainer Diego Simeone, who had to follow the match from the stands due to a suspension. Real Betis had 21 points prior to the game in the Wanda Metropolitano and was therefore in fourth place. In the event of a victory, the team from Seville would have made a gap with Atlético, but the reigning champions did not allow that. The visitors started strong in Madrid, after which the home team took the initiative and took the lead after 26 minutes of play. Carrasco came free on the left flank, sent his direct opponent Martin Montoya into the woods with a clever felling movement, only to ram the ball hard into the roof of the goal. Real Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had no chance.

Atlético Madrid came out of the dressing room strong after the break and visibly went on the hunt for the 2-0. Ten minutes after tea, José María Giménez was close with a header, while Claudio Bravo prevented a bigger deficit five minutes later by stopping Luis Suárez from scoring. From the corner that followed, it was still hit for the home team. From a corner by Antoine Griezmann, the Argentine defender German Pezzella unfortunately headed the ball at the far post behind his own keeper. The same Pezzella prevented Suárez from making the 3-0 with a strong intervention minutes later.

With twenty minutes left on the clock, Simeone chose to sideline Suárez. With a view to next Wednesday’s game in the Champions League group stage at Anfield against Liverpool, the coach could afford to give the Uruguayan a break and bring João Félix inside the lines. The Portuguese substitute only needed ten minutes to score his first league goal of the season. The assistant referee flagged for offside, but after VAR intervention, referee Javier Alberola Rojas pointed to the dot and Atlético Madrid’s party continued.

Due to heavy rainfall in Madrid, the field became difficult to play on Sunday evening after half-time and that did not benefit the game. Real Betis couldn’t manage to pack a punch offensively and couldn’t avoid a marked defeat. Thus, Atlético Madrid fuels confidence on their way to the Liverpool confrontation and continues its strong run against Real Betis: Atletia did not lose in the last nine home games and kept the goal clean for the sixth time in a row. Never before have the Madrilenians put down such a strong series against the club of coach Manuel Pellegrini.