Two errors by Gazzinaga, punished by shots from Griezmann and Marcos Llorente, and a counterattack finished off by Koke in stoppage time gave Atlético their first league win against Girona. Punch and little football. That was Simeone’s team for most of the match. The Argentine coach did not dare to line up Griezmann, Julián Alvarez and Sorloth together in the team’s debut at the Metropolitano. Girona proposed and the red-and-whites hit. Only when Míchel’s team switched off in the final minutes was there room for the fans to enjoy the odd counterattack.
Atlético is left with the score, the victory, and Girona has the feeling that they are still playing very well, but that they have lost too many players who formed the backbone of last season.
The Metropolitano was packed, eager to see a renewed team in which Julián Alvarez is the main attraction. Le Normand occupied the left of the three central defenders and De Paul and Barrios were anchored in the middle. Koke was sparingly used, which seems to be the trend during the season.
The enthusiasm of the new cards gave way to reality, although Julián Alvarez tried to sustain it with a start appropriate to the staging of what a signing of these characteristics should be. He shot at goal the first time he could set up the shot and chased the ball in the pressure like a meritorious man. A great deal for the game that Girona was willing to play. To dominate from the ball. Simeone gave up on Sorloth and Míchel won the numerical superiority in the ball’s output and in the centre of the field. He sank Oriol Romeu so that there were four against the double forward Griezmann and Alvarez. In the middle, Girona also imposed themselves against De Paul, Barrios and Lino. The flutters of the latter and Riquelme were the only way that Atlético found to get into Gazzinaga’s area.
Girona played better, with Blind’s finesse and intelligence to galvanise the football from the cave. Perhaps Girona was a more beautiful team to watch than sharp. But a team that has lost its anchor, Aleix García, its most unbalanced player, Savinho, and its top scorer, Dobvyk, usurped its home-field status from its rival. Girona went into the opponent’s half and closed the exits to Barrios and De Paul. The game was theirs and they were already starting to generate lateral crosses with Arnau and Tsygankov that did not find Abel Ruiz.
Atlético were not even scratching, but football gifted them a goal from a mere long ball from Le Normand. Rather, it was Gazzinaga who gave them the gift, the first of the two that defined the match. First, he misjudged his exit and committed a handball outside the area because he swallowed the bounce of the ball. Then because he positioned himself badly and reacted late to Griezmann’s shot, which went for the post that he could not cover. Out of nowhere, Atlético took the lead shortly before half-time. Abel Ruiz, as fine as ever with combination play and so lukewarm with goals, worried Oblak before the break.
Gazzinaga was quick to give Atlético their second goal. Marcos Llorente, in his first appearance on the open field, unleashed a right-footed shot that the Argentine goalkeeper swallowed. He received Llorente’s jolt with his legs bent and his hands soft.
The tone of the match did not change. Girona continued to push Atlético into their own half, although with the same lack of dynamite. Simeone’s changes served to prove that Gallagher has those legs and energy that his new coach so appreciates. Koke also came on, whose absence always leaves the question of whether the team gets used to playing without him. From what was seen in the first half and part of the second, his teammates do not seem to get used to it.
Míchel also tried to give a twist to this inane dominance with a triple change. Nothing. Good up to Oblak’s area and lacking the pinch to do real damage. Girona only collapsed in the final stretch. By then Sorloth was already on the field, who redeemed himself with a couple of runs and runs that stretched the team and showed his coach that he can be less preemptive and more ambitious.
You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook and Xor sign up here to receive our newsletter.
