Atletico Madrid won a critical home match against Athletic Bilbao. Inaki William and teammates could not stand the pressure from Atletico’s attack line. Morata scores again, and Simeone has to think about Spanish forwards spot in starting line-up.
Pre-match preparations
Atleti won very importantly during the mid-week Champions League campaign. Alvaro Morata was the author of the winning goal on Tuesday, and he scored again on Saturday. Diego Simeone gave a rest to Diego Costa as he started with Alvaro Morata and Saul in the attacking line.
Since 2015, Atletico has perfect stats against Bilbao at home. Atletico Madrid won four home matches after 2015 and could score a minimum of 2 goals. From experience, fans were waiting for an enjoyable and exciting game.
1st half of the game
Diego Simeone started with match Correa and Morata in the attacking line. Saul and Thomas were playing in midfield, and their main goal was to connect midfield to attacking zone.
Simeone’s players started the match with pressure, and in the first few minutes, they could create five goal attempts. In 10 minutes, we saw very angry Atletico, and as it seems, the plan was to score an early goal. Unfortunately, Atletico players could not score initial targets in the first 10-15 minutes. Next few minutes, we saw a very boring play, mostly in the midfield zone. On the 28th minute, Wanda Metropolitano public saw a beautiful goal – Atletico score.
Angel Correa passed to Saul, and Niguez could score a beauty. Atletico Madrid tried to score the second goal in the first 45 minutes but could not because of blocked shots. Overall, we saw the excellent performance in the first half.
2nd half of the match
During the break, Simeone motivated players so that Atletico could score early goal second half. Alvaro Morata scored a goal on 62nd minute, and fans were happy with the win.
We should mention Angel Correa and his two assists. If not brilliant play from Angel Correa, Atletico would not be able to score two goals. Both assists came from Angel, and overall, he had a perfect match.
Atletico is now in the second position. The team is a joint leader of the La Liga table with Barcelona. Real Madrid and Barcelona won’t’ play this weekend because of postponed El Clasico. So, Atletico has a chance to stay on top of the La Liga table.
Simeone’s team has the next match on Tuesday. Two days, Atletico will play an away game against Alaves. The host team is in the 14th position, and Simeone’s players should be careful not to lose valuable points.