Matchday 2 Review
- Callum McIlwaine
- Aug 27, 2024
- 5 min read
Atletico De Madrid Vs. Girona FC
Civitas Metropolitano, 25 Aug 2024
Final Score: Atletico De Madrid 3 - 0 Girona FC
Matchday 2 treated us to a clash of last seasons standout team Girona playing away to the team they narrowly placed above in Atletico Madrid. A battle of 3rd and 4th from the previous campaign had some exciting build up, how was Atletico Madrid (Atleti) going to cope introducing their new players, will some of them even play? On the flip side - how will Girona handle this new challenge this season with players departing over the summer and the fact that they will be playing champions league football as well as trying to maintain momentum in La Liga?
Kick off at the metropolitano, Atleti's first home game of the season and the team showed a real passion to right the wrongs from their draw away to Villarreal in the first match day. Within the first seconds of the match, new signing Julian Alverez was creating attacking opportunities, narrowly striking wide with his first touches of the game. Atleti were showing their intent of how they were going to play the match. Girona took around 10 to 15 minutes to settle into their rhythm, some good possession play and dangerous crosses into the Atleti box which were predictably defended well by the home side. The first real chance of the half came to the feet of Griezmann when Lino moved past a couple of players on the left hand side - a move we've seen a lot from last season - to play it across the box to the Frenchman for him to slice the ball and miss the shot completely. Very unlike Griezmann! This was met not long after by Bryan Gil trying to go for the spectacular finish after a Girona corner was deflected out of the Atleti box, a spectacular effort that spectacularly missed the goal with no real threat. This back and forth really happened throughout the half, it was end to end on attacking chances, a shout of penalty as Alvarez was brought down in the box but the referee waved away all of the shouts. The best chance for Girona came after this as Blind whips in a rocket of a cross to the back post that is met by Tsygankov who tries to play it back across the box, Oblak comes to punch clear with ease. This was Girona's best section of the match for attacking play going into the water break at the half hour mark. After the water break in the warm Spanish capital, the game continued really as it left off, end to end stuff. This was until, for whatever reason, Gazziniga in the Girona goal decided to come for a simple route one clearance but wildly misjudged the flight and bounce of the ball and ended up handling it outside of his box. Metropolitano absolutely erupted at the referee to hand out a red card to the goalkeeper but he got away with the mistake very luckily with only a yellow card as it was deemed to not be a direct attacking opportunity. A let off for the Argentine. The resulting free kick from this mistake was absolutely perfectly placed into the bottom corner of the net by Antoine Griezmann, low and accurate from the Frenchman who capitalises on the mistake from the goalkeeper to open the scoring. 1 - 0 Atleti. After the free kick went in, the game opened up for the final 10 minutes of the half with the best chance coming to Abel Ruiz who manages to break through the Atleti defence for the first time all match but his shot is tame and right at Oblak in the home net. This was the final action of the first half, a half that was filled with real tension between the two teams at points with some excellent defending on display and was brought to life with that free kick by Griezmann.
The second half starts and Girona come out with a game plan, they have to be the first team to score here or there is a risk that the game can run away from them. This would be the end of this segment if it wasn't for Marcos Llorente taking the ball at the half way line after being found by an acrobatic pass from Griezmann and driving towards the Girona defence. Llorente ran for what seemed like an age completely unchallenged until he reached the 20 yard mark just outside the box and absolutely let rip with a powerful strike that went through the hands of Gazzaniga, another mistake from the Girona goalkeeper who looked like he should have had this one covered. Nonetheless, this was an absolute rocket from Llorente and the rest of the Metropolitano let us know their appreciation for the strike. for the next 20 minutes, it was all Girona on attack, peppering the box with crosses and darting runs but Atleti had fallen into a familiar deep defensive line shape to maintain the lead. Almost 'park the bus' esq from the home side as they settle down to take this game to the final whistle, Atleti are well known for being able to soak up pressure especially with their home crowd behind them. Miovski has the best chance on the 70 minute mark with another crack shot, this is once again down the throat of Oblak in the Atleti goal and no real issue for the experienced goalkeeper. As the half starts to wind down we go into the water break, Girona's main issue is that they are seeing most of the ball but making poor decisions with it, Atletico are happy to sit back and take the offensive attempts and then try to break away while Girona have players forward. This back and forth is what kept everyone on their toes during the match, Girona got lucky that the Atleti players were as exhuasted as they were so they couldn't punish them on the counter any more than they had by that point. That is until the last kick of the game nearly, three minutes into stoppage time - Barrios drives into the Girona half and lays off Llorente to play the cutback across the box to be met by....Koke of all players. The captain meeting the ball to slot home a tap in for his first goal in years and a goal that just killed the game even more than it already was, an excellent goal for the fans to enjoy as well. The full time whistle goes not long after the goal has gone in and we finish the match that in all honesty, had been won by the 70 minute mark as Atletico cruised to victory after setting the defensive line up after scoring the second goal. An overall well organised and managed Atleti team and a very exhausted Girona side that has a long season ahead of them who are taking their time to get going in La Liga this season.
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