Rebellion always comes at a high price. In any context, but in football, when one turns their back on the badge they wear, turning back is almost impossible. Only a few chosen ones manage it, after a sincere act of contrition to obtain forgiveness. Atlético fans hold a grudge against Julián Álvarez for wanting to swap the red-and-white stripes for the blue and garnet, and the Argentine shows a serious expression, far from remorse. His demeanor has been absent for days and did not change one bit when the entire Metropolitano dedicated loud boos to him. It was the image of a great duel against a bold and solid Villarreal that put a lot of pressure on Atlético, relying on Oblak. [Narration and statistics: 2-2]
Atlético did not look for another number 9 for this match. Simeone knows everything is solved with goals and wants him in the squad, but he sat him on the bench ahead of the coming storm. The market is still open and, although the club repeats that it does not want to sell, the player is stretching the rope. That is why the coach entrusted the task to Kang In and Lookman, but the first chance was for Grimaldo. The fullback was making his debut and took two minutes to show the venom in his strikes with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that tested Luiz Junior‘s gloves. He would later have to suffer to contain Pépé. Villarreal, a recognizable team that has barely made signings, waited patiently for the match to open without conceding an extra inch to Simeone’s team, without that meaning not entering the area. Pubill had to scrape a goal from Mikautadze, who caught a cross from Gueye from the right flank.
In a duel of alternating and electric dominance, Giuliano responded by pulling off a shot in a tight space that Foyth deflected to prevent it from reaching the goal. Atlético pressed and controlled the game, but the yellow team threatened.
Goalkeeper Luiz Junior appeared again to collect a weak shot from Rodrigo Mendoza while Kang In searched for any gap from where he could send the ball towards goal. But Villarreal was comfortable, not falling into the trap of conceding space for the sprinters’ runs and, although it struggled to attack against the organized red-and-white lines, ended the first half forcing Oblak to keep the draw. Ayoze had it at his feet after a triangulation started by Comesaña on the right side and Mikautadze accelerated in the area with a masterful pass that left the Canarian alone in front of the Slovenian goalkeeper.
At the start of the second half, Íñigo Pérez’s team grew. The Georgian launched himself to the byline to put in a cross that Oblak saved, who again stopped Pépé’s shot after he twice broke past Grimaldo. Just then, Atlético took the lead with a wall pass between Pubill and Giuliano that ended with a lethal shot from the fullback from the edge of the area.
It was time to shake up the duel from the benches, providential for Villarreal. Buchanan and Gerard Moreno came on to stage the equalizer. The Canadian was brought down in the area by Hjulmand, who had a good first half in defensive support, and Gerard Moreno did not miss from the penalty spot in the 66th minute.
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The Spider, onto the pitch
Then, Simeone called Julián Álvarez and, despite disguising it with the substitutions of Llorente and Barrios, the Argentine received another unanimous booing and some insults from part of the stands. Scoring was the only way to start the path to redemption, although everything got complicated.
A counterattack run by Mikautadze, one-on-one with Le Normand, ended with the central defender pushing him in the area to unbalance him in the one-on-one with Oblak. VAR alerted Hernández Hernández, who pointed to the penalty spot and showed the defender a red card. This time it was Mikautadze who scored for the comeback.
However, Atlético can never be counted out, not even when down a man, and Baena appeared in the 84th minute to launch a devilish run and thread the ball to Giuliano’s diagonal run, who slotted it past Luiz Junior to level the score. Villarreal wanted to join the exchange of blows and had to leave, with Oblak again clearing Buchanan’s almost point-blank shot. The revolution attempted by the Colchoneros was impossible while all eyes were on Julián Álvarez, who barely touched the ball and only tried one shot in the 90th minute.
With the match over, his solitude in the center circle was significant, but even more so when he headed down the tunnel while the entire squad thanked the crowd for their support. “It was a club decision. They asked him not to approach the people,” Simeone explained after the match. The Metropolitano is no longer a happy place for The Spider.
