He Atlético de Madrid won three golden points this Sunday against the Seville in an exquisite match for lovers of attacking football and not suitable for the faint of heart (4-3). It ended with a party at the Metropolitano and it was no wonder, because after starting ahead, it was Griezmann who scored the comeback goal in the 94th minute after Cholo’s team found themselves 1-3 down on the scoreboard. There are already nine consecutive victories35 points in the box – one below Real Madrid and three behind the leader, Barça – and, like the meringues, with one game less.
Before the 4-3, Atlético was ahead on the scoreboard just two minutes and 40 seconds. After two chances from Griezmann, one to the crossbar and another with a phenomenal save from Ferllo, he took the lead with a right hand from Rodrigo de Paul. It was in the 9th minute when the Argentine took advantage of a bad start by the visitors to get the ball and place a shot into the back of the net.
Sevilla came back with two shots in the first half. In the eleventh minute, almost after 1-0, a corner reactivated the Andalusian team. The short serve highlighted Atlético’s concession, made even more visible when Lukebakio received, circled Julián Álvarez with a bicycle and unleashed a powerful right hand that was too easy. The 1-1.
Sevilla was not superior. Neither did Atlético, too expectant of its rival’s failure. He did not come out under pressure except for his own loss. The Andalusian block awaited him at the edge of their midfield, the visiting team responded with courage, with a nondescript sequence of passes without any risk. The chess game, then, was harmless. Just strategy.
The counterattack was the objective. Atlético did not find it. Sevilla did, taking advantage of a failed pass from De Paul to rush towards the opposing goal, through Kike Salas. First he connected on a wall with Peque, then he delivered the ball long, low, for the speed of Isaac Romero in front of Giménez, slow and overtaken. Isaac beat Oblak with the cross shot.
After half an hour, against all odds, Sevilla defeated Atlético with the same weapons that the red and white team has built part of this entire current reaction: the stops of their goalkeeper at the beginning and the offensive forcefulness later. There were nuances in his triumph at the intermission, as a penalty claimed by Gallagherand a goal disallowed due to initial offside by Giuliano Simeone that Julián Álvarez had later scored.
Amidst the intense cold, each and every one of the local fans in the Metropolitano had already celebrated it, each and every one of the players on the field and on the bench and with an exultant expression Diego Simeone, aware of the significance that it would have had 2-2 at halftime, which in the end was not such. A setback. Again, against the current.
Giuliano Simeone still had a chance, denied by Ferlloin the second half, when Sevilla scored a great goal. A sequence of passes, from his defense to his attack, with precision, with overflow, from right to left and from right to left, for the culmination of Juanlu. Three shots, three goals. Incontestable.
It was still the 58th minute. A world in football. Even more in the Metropolitan. Griezmann’s 2-3 score was quickly noticedperfect definer of a fantastic Barrios pass. He had left. A lot. The goal revitalized Atlético. It energized him. Alexander Sorloth missed three clear headers, all in the middle, for the goalkeeper to shine, when Samuel Lino had enough to control the ball and unleash a whip from afar to score 3-3. Minute 79.
And in the 94th minute, among Sevilla’s constant losses of time long before, from 1-1, Griezmann controlled inside the area, turned and connected with his soul and left foot the goal of Atlético’s epic victory. The comeback and euphoria of the Metropolitan. The desolation of his rival, without consolation in the face of a cruel defeat.