Atletico Madrid produced their best performance of the season so far as they crushed CA Osasuna 4-0 ahead of Sunday’s Madrid derby.
Goals from Jonathan David, Kang-In Lee, Robin Le Normand and Álex Baena helped overturn an appalling Osasuna who offered precious little on their latest visit to the Estadio Metropolitano.
Here are Into the Calderón’s player ratings for this one.
Player ratings
Jan Oblak: A great close-down save on Raúl García in the first half was the only occasion Oblak was called upon to do anything
of note. Another clean sheet hopefully creates some defensive momentum to take into the Madrid derby. 6
Marcos Llorente: Extremely active in the first half, Llorente did all he had to do without expending too much energy. Whilst his opposite full-back suits a back five, I’d say mister sol looks a more solid option in a defensive line of four. 7
Cuti Romero: The expressionless man. Ice-cold. Impassable. Even fancies his chances from 30m with goal-bound missiles. There are so many things that Romero does well that I’d need more than a paragraph to go through them all. If he continues like this, I’ll write a 900-word column on the man. 8
Robin Le Normand: Well I thought he played pretty terribly, actually. But then scores a golazo out of nowhere. So his rating will be conditioned by his offensive contribution as defensively, Le Normand offered next to no security. There were even moments where Cuti and Llorente appeared to demonstrate discontent. Hopefully his 90 minutes means he’ll take a seat on the bench this weekend. Sorry to all the Robin lovers. 6
Alejandro Grimaldo: “A free spirit” was how Atlético Stats described his first half, and I would say that’s an understatement. Playing as an extra midfielder in possession helped the play progress, and the Spaniard found himself in all kinds of areas of the pitch — summed up by his visit inside the right-hand corner of the penalty area to assist David’s first goal. 7
Johnny Cardoso: Playing with a point to prove? This was a Tiago Mendes-type performance from Cardoso, whose turn and pass for Baena’s goal was world-class. 8
Koke: Masterful once more by the director de la orquesta. His defensive contributions (four successful tackles and four recoveries) coupled with his attacking output (16 passes into the final third) made him the most noticeable player in the midfield tonight. Summed up by the fact he had the most touches of any player (104). 8
Álex Baena: Quiet in the first half and came to life in the second, Baena finished well for the team’s fourth and his own fourth goal of the season. Still enigmatic at times, but a fruitful and confident version of the World Cup winner is always appreciated. Let’s hope he keeps his head against los vikingos. 7
Kang-In Lee: “The best player on the pitch” as described by the commentators on ESPN Argentina when he bagged the first of the game. Perhaps not the best player in this certain match (I thought there were a few loose moments), but certainly in contention for his high technical quality in the moments where he really takes the bull by the horns. 8
Jonathan David: Second consecutive game scoring for the Canadian, who has fit in exceptionally so far. If he keeps up his average of one goal every 52 minutes, it’ll be a loan deal for the ages. David linked the midfield to the wide players very well and seemed like just the striker Atleti could do with to start every match. 8
Ademola Lookman: A return to his favoured position, hugging the left touchline, came with a perceived liberation of a man who has waited a long time for this to happen. It would have been nice to have been directly involved with one of the goals but he was a constant thorn in Osasuna’s side. 7
Substitutes
Marc Pubill: Nothing too much to report on another solid, upright performance. Now excuse me as I pray for a Cuti/Pubill shutout on Sunday afternoon. 6
Dávid Hancko: On in the last few minutes to keep the legs match fit for the weekend, by which point the game was already nicely wrapped up. 5
Morten Hjulmand: Similar to Hancko, I expect to see him play more of a part against Madrid. 5
Giuliano Simeone: I would prefer if he didn’t start on Sunday, purely because of how well Kang-In was today with the whole right side to himself. Let’s see what his dad decides. Nothing of note from tonight. 5
Arnau Ortiz: Great stuff from the boy who has been thrust into the big time. A positive impact from the bench. 6
