Sensational turnaround in injury time ends horror series Atlético

Saturday, January 22, 2022 at 11:09 PM• Tom Rofekamp

Atlético Madrid managed to take the three points at the very last minute on Saturday evening. For a long time, Diego Simeone’s team faced a 1-2 deficit against Valencia, but goals in minutes 91 and 93 nevertheless resulted in a 3-2 victory for Atlético. Close with that los Colchoneros a dramatic run, with only one win in eight matches. A little further on in Spain, Celta de Vigo managed to keep number two in LaLiga Sevilla to a 2-2 draw. With this, leader Real Madrid can run up to six points on Sunday, when the Royaltakes office against Elche.

Atletico Madrid – Valencia 3-2

The teams barely managed to impress the audience in the Wanda Metropolitano in the first 24 minutes. Like a bolt from the blue, Valencia broke the spell after 24 minutes. Gonçalo Guedes captured the ball halfway down the field and delivered a great cross pass to the completely detached Yunus Musah. The American dribbled in and outwitted Jan Oblak in the short corner: 0-1. Atlético, as so often lately, had no answer. Carlos Soler was close to 0-2 a few times, before Hugo Duro actually took care of that on the stroke of half-time. The attacker made his way to Oblak with two defenders around him and sent the Slovenian the wrong way: 0-2.

The halftime signal had barely sounded when Simeone was already furiously marching towards the changing rooms.
Whatever happened there resulted in Atlético’s mini-revival just after the break. Mario Hermoso headed a free kick from Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco just over; the latter missed the target by a few meters with his own attempt. Luis Suárez had the biggest opportunity of the evening not much later, but Jaume Domenech – who replaced the slightly injured Jasper Cillessen – kept his goal clean. With 25 minutes to go, the Madrilenians brought the tension back. Substitute Matheus decisively ran into a corner from Carrasco and called on the public to stand behind the team.

The stadium – and with it Atlético – came to life. Hermoso put Suárez in a promising position twenty minutes before the end, but the Uruguayan missed completely. Atlético had to, making the spaces on the field even bigger than they already were. As a result, Valencia was able to counter dangerously several times, although the Alético defense always cleared up just in time before the visitors could fire on Oblak. Los Che seemed to run away with the victory for a long time, until the insane final phase arrived. Substitute Ángel Correa made it 2-2 in the 91st minute, before Hermoso brought the crowd into ecstasy on Cunha’s pass.

Seville – Celta de Vigo 2-2

The visitors surprisingly took the lead. In an incidental outbreak, Santi Mina fired at Marko Dmitrovic, who initially managed to turn the bet. However, the Serbian closing post had no answer to Franco Cervi’s rebound: 0-1. Sevilla was upset and three minutes later even got the second one. Iago Aspas was not put in the way on the edge of the box, which allowed the club’s top scorer to place in the left corner for the 0-2 and his twelfth of the season. For a long time, Celta seemed to take the win, until Julien Lopetegui’s team equalized the difference in the last twenty minutes. Papu Gomez scored beautifully in minute 71 in the left corner for the connecting goal; Óliver Torres slid into the 2-2 not much later.

No. Team m W G V +/- Pnt
1 Real Madrid 21 15 4 2 27 49
2 Seville 22 13 7 2 18 46
3 Real Betis 22 12 4 6 16 40
4 Atletico Madrid 21 10 6 5 10 36
5 Real Sociedada 20 9 6 5 1 33
6 Villarreal 22 8 8 6 13 32
7 Barcelona 20 8 8 4 8 32
8 Rayo Vallecano 20 9 4 7 6 31
9 Valencia 22 7 8 7 -1 29
10 Athletic Club 21 6 10 5 3 28
11 Celta de Vigo 22 7 6 9 1 27
12 Espanyol 22 7 6 9 -4 27
13 Osasuna 21 6 7 8 -7 25
14 Granada 21 5 9 7 -5 24
15 Elche 21 5 7 9 -7 22
16 getafe 21 5 6 10 -6 21
17 Real Majorca 21 4 8 9 -16 20
18 Cadiz 22 3 9 10 -17 18
19 Alaves 21 4 5 12 -18 17
20 Levante 21 1 8 12 -22 11