Atlético de Madrid and Valencia faced off at the Metropolitano after the international break. Both teams needed to get the three points from the match to start the month in the best possible way. The red-and-whites needed to come out victorious to stay at the top of the table, while the Valencians needed their first success of the season.
To do so, Diego Pablo Simeone decided to field Jan Oblak; Marcos Llorente, Le Normand, Giménez, César Azpilicueta, Lino; Koke, De Paul; Conor Gallagher, Antoine Griezmann; and Alexander Sorlth . On the other hand, Baraja opted for Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Mosquera, Tárrega, Thierry; Hugo, Rioja, Pepelu, Diego López; Javi Guerra and Dani Gómez . Both coaches, who know each other perfectly, moved their pieces from the first moment as if it were a game of chess.
Pick and shovel to the goal
The Colchoneros started the match dominating in every line of the pitch. The midfield was very active, with Conor Gallagher constantly moving, while Lino and Llorente tried to stab Valencia 's defence from the wings. De Paul and Koke were also very alert when moving the ball to confuse their opponents, while Griezmann and Sorloth tried to threaten goalkeeper Mamardashvili .
The Norwegian was the one who tried the most during the first 45 minutes with several headers that missed the target. It was in the 20th minute when Alexander Sorloth had his clearest chances with a one-on-one with the Georgian goalkeeper, who stopped it with a good move. That same play, Samuel Lino collected the rebound to put in a new cross that, again, was not finished properly by the red-and-white striker, who made a bad right-footed volley.
It was the constant idea of Simeone 's boys: balls to the wings to end up crossing in search of Sorloth or the player who came from the second line. All this while Valencia barely managed to threaten a Jan Oblak who watched the whole first half like another spectator at the Cívitas Metropolitano . After trying again and again with several shots from Griezmann, Le Normand or Gallagher, it was the Englishman who ended up opening the scoring.
It was a beautiful counterattack by Atlético de Madrid that ended with Rodrigo de Paul providing a great pass between the legs of a defender for Conor Gallagher . The midfielder, like any other penalty striker, knew how to define very well against Mamardashvili to make his debut as a goalscorer with the red and white. A goal that rewarded the continuous attempts of Simeone 's boys, who managed to go into the break ahead.
Sentence of the 'little prince' and the 'spider'
The second forty-five minutes began with Valencia clearly showing their need to turn the score around. Baraja 's men started with a greater degree of aggression and daring with the ball, but they were unable to seriously threaten Jan Oblak . Atlético de Madrid read the new script of the match and wanted to settle in with fast, counterattacking and vertical attacks towards the opposing goal.
A stance that worked well for the red-and-whites, as they quickly increased their lead with a goal from Antoine Griezmann . Marcos Llorente placed the ball on the penalty spot and Lino , with a forced shot, managed to leave the ball dead so that the Frenchman could finish to score the second. He was the smartest in the class as he slipped between the Valencian defenders to be left alone against Mamardashvili .
With a good result in favour of Atlético de Madrid , Diego Pablo Simeone decided to make his first changes with Julián Alvarez and Ángel Correa for Alexander Sorloth and Rodrigo de Paul . Later, Rodrigo Riquelme also came on for Samuel Lino , while Valencia began to have its best moment of the match with control and some dangerous chances. Later, Giuliano Simeone and Reinildo also appeared in place of Antoine Griezmann and César Azpilicueta .
The changes helped to maintain the result, keeping the danger away from Jan Oblak 's goal. Atlético de Madrid came close to scoring the third on several occasions, highlighting a post on Llorente after reaching the byline. However, it was Julián Alvarez , finally, who managed to score last on the great night for Atlético de Madrid after a good individual play by Riquelme that he only had to push in.
That being the case, Atléticode Madrid got a very important victory against a rival that could do little at the Metropolitano . The red-and-whites are back on top of the three points after drawing 0-0 in their last home game against RCD Espanyol . Now, all eyes will be on RB Leipzig in the ChampionsLeague .