Atletico suffers, but achieves an important victory over Feyenoord

Atletico Madrid beat Feyenoord 3-2 on Wednesday in the second round of the Champions League, thanks to a brace from Alvaro Morata and another goal from Antoine Griezmann, neutralizing the Rotterdam team’s success and correcting the Madrid side’s trend as well. The fifth group, after their previous draw against Lazio.

Of course, there was Feyenoord’s initial dominance, which was exemplified by Mario Hermoso’s early 0-1 own goal, courtesy of Carome’s ball. Quentin Temper had succeeded in clearing a good pass behind the Colchoneros centre-back, and his colleague Ayase Ueda took advantage of it with a powerful shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Jan Oblak, which bounced back to Hermoso and the ball ended up in the back net. .

Immediately, Ramez Zerrougui scored 0-2 with a right hand that was too far, surprising Oblak out of place. Despite this, despite the poor goal and despite the spirit of the visiting crowd, which was numerous and noisy, the local team did not stop and achieved an equalizer through Alvaro Morata before reaching the quarter-hour mark.

It was with uncertainty that the referee corrected an offside call in a ranked attack. A deep pass from Rodrigo De Paul slipped between Feyenoord’s defensive lines and was directed by Saul Niguez with his heel to the left. Defender Mats Wever cut the ball, but the ball fell at Morata’s feet and he scored from below.

Frenchman “Cue” François Letexier, at the request of the assistant referee, declared offside, which was later denied by the VAR television replay; Saul was ahead but did not intervene, while Morata positioned himself well and was able to exploit a low shot past Timon Wellenreuther.

In another sloppy approach to the visiting area, Saul once again appeared as an improvised playmaker and created plenty of danger; He crossed from left to right behind a defender, avoided Wellenreuther’s exit and, with poor control, accidentally sent the ball onto the post.

However, Arnie Slott’s disciples struck again. After half an hour, a long-range free-kick from Oblak’s area reached the far post, where centre-back David Hanko evaded Cesar Azpilicueta’s marking until he finished from close range. Although the Slovenian goalkeeper made a miraculous save the first time, Hanko himself scored 1-2 on the rebound.

Atletico scored the second goal, and came very close to conceding another from a corner kick moments later. Feyenoord’s other centre-back, Austrian Gernot Trauner, sent a left-footed shot outside the penalty area which, if he had scored on target, would have meant a setback for Diego Pablo Simeone’s pupils.

Only a shot from Samu Leno, low but wide, woke the red and white team from its temporary slumber. Of course, the comeback in the league against Cádiz (3-2) was still fresh in the memories of the footballers as well as in the stands of the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium. So ‘Cholo’ Simeone’s men pressed hard and got the boot before half-time.

In the last three minutes, added by Letexer, Atletico executed a corner kick that went over the heads of everyone in the area. Leno tamed the ball in front of him with his right foot, cut it inside to get rid of the opponent and shot it with his left foot; After a poor bounce and clearance, Antoine Griezmann took a false overhead kick and scored 2-2.

At the start of the second half, Simeone’s men surprised their opponents again. Just as against Real Madrid and Cádiz in recent league matches, Atletico scored a goal and Morata scored again. Crouched between the two centre-backs, No. 19 Colchonero popped in with a left-footed shot on a precise cross from Nahuel Molina from the right wing.

The Dutch team responded with several set pieces, but to no avail. At least Yankuba Menté’s entry onto the field in the 60th minute motivated his team-mates. Thus, the Gambian striker coordinated an attack that continued with a pass from Timber to Stings, who entered the local area, but his shot hit Oblak’s arm.

Shortly afterwards, Igor Paixao tried it from the three-quarter line with a powerful right hand that went high. Hermoso fell behind for Atletico thanks to a shot from midfield that did not surprise Wellenreuther. After Simeone and Slot had moved some pieces from their seats, Paixao tried his luck again with a footed shot from the left corner of the local area.

Mente had a very clear opportunity to equalize in the 72nd minute after a poor pass of the ball, which led to interference from the Gambian player. Oblak came to the rescue with another save, putting together a few at that stage of the game. Feyenoord did not give up, but the changes introduced by Cholo dampened their morale somewhat.

The final area remains for visitors, with another great stop for Oblak, and with the ghosts of Rome hovering over the minds of Civitas Metropolitano. On a couple of set pieces, the opposing goalkeeper stepped up to shoot, but on this occasion there was no header from the momentary ‘imitator’ of Ivan Provedel.

This difficult victory put Atletico with four points at the top of Group E and left the Dutch team with three points, leaving both at the expense of what Celtic and Lazio do in their duel in the second round. The champions will be next October 25 (at 9:00 pm) by visiting the Green Club in Glasgow.