Villarreal dries Atlético again

Atlético is still stuck. In a match marked by the tactical rigor, of those in which the concessions to the spectacle are conspicuous by their absence for the benefit of defensive security, Unai Emery’s Villarreal completely dried up the Athletic, unable to generate chances dangerous and lacking depth beyond Lodi’s forays down the left lane. No sign of Suárez and not of Joao Félix, more discreet than in Huesca on the week-long day, very bad news for the mattress parish.

He Villarreal, in his second consecutive outing to a great stage after the blow against Barça at the Camp Nou, he opted from the beginning for the high pressure, but barely bothered a mattress game capable of pushing his rival to his own area. Despite the athletic territorial dominance, Oblak and not Asenjo were the first goalkeeper to intervene decisively, to deflect a shot from Mario Gaspar loaded with intention. The shot from the yellow right-back was hardly remarkable about an anodyne first half in terms of occasions, which yes, left an authentic catalog of technical details by Gerard Moreno.

The mattress insistence ran into a wall upon reaching the edge of the visiting area, in a dynamic similar to that of Atlético’s second half in El Alcoraz. With little news of Joao Félix and Suárez, life is complicated for Simeone’s pupils and the rojiblanca offensive duo was closely watched by Albiol and Pau Torres, impeccable in the first half.

The second act did not change the general landscape, with a very solid Villarreal in the defensive field and Atlético stuck with the ball in their possession. Again Mario Gaspar had in his boots the most dangerous action, deflected by Oblak. Without the participation of Alcácer, the ‘yellow submarine’ found a vein in the right lane of its attack, a band in which Lodi, more willing to attack than to defensive work, was the greatest generator of danger for Atlético. The Brazilian left-hander crossed and Asenjo hesitated. It was the best mattress opportunity in a game that began to cry out for greater depth in the game.

The enormous tactical work of Villarreal was taking a physical toll on Emery’s team, increasingly subdued by the athletic push. In search of making this situation profitable, Simeone resorted to the dynamism of Marcos Llorente, Carrasco and Diego Costa with 20 minutes of play ahead, but the tactical movement barely gave the revenue of a commotion in the area after Llorente’s shot resolved with a clearance of Asenjo when the play was invalidated for offside. With such a panorama and without Joao Félix on the pitch, replaced by Héctor Herrera, the matched without goals it was sung and nothing was able to change the script of a film doomed to an end announced from the beginning.