Atlético de Madrid were not rolling all on cylinders when Valencia came to town for a Saturday afternoon showdown at the Metropolitano. But thanks to the efforts of two long-serving record-holders, a fatigued
Atlético emerged victorious from a tougher-than-expected test against the relegation-threatened visitors.
Koke and Antoine Griezmann scored either side of a Lucas Beltrán golazo into the bottom corner to hand Atlético a 2-1 win, which saw the Rojiblancos snap a two-game losing skid in La Liga and record an 11th successive home win in all competitions. Atleti provisionally moved to within one point of Villarreal (which has two games in hand) and two points of Real Madrid (who play Sunday night at Alavés).
Let’s get into some takeaways from a weird game at the Metropolitano, where Atleti lost the xG battle but had that extra bit of quality needed to win.
The captain and the prince
In Eindhoven on Tuesday, Diego Simeone turned to Griezmann for the final 15 minutes of what was trending toward a comfortable win over PSV. But with Koke making way, PSV found new life and nearly clawed back to draw from a two-goal deficit. It was an ill-advised change magnified by Griezmann’s lack of contribution.
On another afternoon in which Julián Alvarez struggled to get involved, Simeone again turned to Griezmann, the Frenchman entering just before Beltrán scored his first goal this season to equalize. Griezmann served as the catalyst who finally woke up the team; his 74th-minute winner was pure class, the touch to take him past Dimitri Foulquier sublime.
Alvarez is still mired in a form slump, and he has been stuck on seven league goals since he slotted a penalty against Sevilla on Nov. 1. In the meantime, Griezmann has moved up to five goals in LaLiga, all of them scored from the bench and two going down as game-winners.
Much earlier in the match, Koke got back amongst the scorers for the first time in 475 days. The captain swept home a loose ball from Matteo Ruggeri’s deflected shot to put the Colchoneros in front on 16 minutes. Koke went on to complete 90 minutes the first time since in five weeks, and he won the ball repeatedly; the captain made nine recoveries and won six ground duels while completing a game-high 63 passes.
This to me is the biggest story from this match: Koke (33) and Griezmann (34) are older and creakier and still among the team’s most decisive players. Both players were set for new roles entering this season — Griezmann as Ángel Correa’s in-house replacement, Koke as Johnny Cardoso’s competition — but they have been among Simeone’s most-used players nonetheless.
Is it a failure of recruitment that these two veterans have not been fully replaced? Perhaps. But we also have to recognize that Koke and Griezmann are two of the best players ever to don the red and white stripes of Atlético de Madrid. The great ones always find a way to adapt. It makes them eternal., after all.
Marc Pubill and the defensive revival
I’m not gonna lie, I was a little peeved when Atlético could not sign Jesús Areso from Osasuna last summer. I felt right-back was a spot where Atleti needed an urgent upgrade and a genuine competitor — if not eventual successor — to Marcos Llorente, who is not a natural at the position but has made it his own nonetheless.
But when Areso opted to return to Athletic, Atleti pivoted immediately to hijack Marc Pubill’s move to Wolves from Almería. After watching and waiting for a few months, a pair of defensive injuries gave Pubill his shot to carve out a place at the back.
It is a chance Pubill has taken with both hands. Reader, it is almost to the point where Simeone can’t drop him unless it’s to rest him; given the coach’s praise for the 22-year-old on Saturday, we might even be there already.
Pubill led from central defense in the first half, when he completed 20 of his 22 passes, won all five of his aerial duels, made five recoveries and recorded six clearances. Upon moving to right-back for Nahuel Molina in the second half, Pubill continued to impress; he delivered the gorgeous cross-field ball that Griezmann took down in the penalty area prior to scoring the winning goal.
Molina regaining a starting spot amid Llorente’s absence (through seniority) has had a negative domino effect on all aspects of the team’s play. I’m not using this as an excuse to bash Molina individually; it is just glaringly obvious that he just is not a confident player in or out of possession. His passing under pressure or over long distances is not as reliable as Llorente in either case, which hurts Atlético in buildup and invariably leads to a lowering of the defensive line.
Molina’s defensive inattention also means Giuliano Simeone gets increasingly called into defensive duties — which was especially noteworthy last Saturday at Athletic, but was seen in the first half against Valencia as well. That means there is no explosive presence crashing the box from the right.
Pubill rectifies these issues, almost singlehandedly. His technique and passing range are already at a high level; his pace, height and anticipation allow him to cover effectively two positions at once. It’s not coincidental that even with Llorente, Giménez and Álex Baena all out through injury, Atleti have won three of Pubill’s four starts between La Liga and the Champions League.
I know, I just wrote about the guy in midweek. But Pubill — who was second-choice to Areso at the club — is the best young defender who has played here since Lucas Hernández came through. That means something.
The Ruggeri quandary
I talked a bit about the left-back situation following the Inter Milan game last month, and it feels like a good time to bring it up again following a report Saturday that Atlético are prioritizing the signing of a new player in the position next month.
The stats say that Ruggeri had another sturdy game against Valencia, with eight duels won, five clearances and three recoveries. The 23-year-old has had a few of these performances since his arrival from Atalanta, shining brightest when Atlético are aggressive and pressing high up the pitch.
Yet Ruggeri contributes next to nothing in attack beyond a decent cross here, a gallop toward the penalty area there. PSV targeted Ruggeri relentlessly once winger Dennis Man entered Tuesday’s game, the Dutch side punishing his lack of top speed and his lack of instinct in a deeper defensive line. On Saturday, Valencia repeatedly isolated Ruggeri against Thierry Correia; Ruggeri failed to read the visitors’ switches of play to his side, and the speedy Correia gained separation multiple times as Los Che applied sustained pressure to the tired hosts.
I find it much more likely that Javi Galán (without minutes since Oct. 5) makes way in January instead of Ruggeri — though without surefire investment from Apollo until the summer, I’m not sure if that move alone creates the financial margin to sign a replacement. But more to the point, what do Atlético do with Ruggeri? He’s too limited offensively to be the full-back this team craves, he’s not fast enough to play as a center-back and he’s under contract for the rest of the decade. Ruggeri is a project, and Simeone is going to pick Dávid Hancko to play at left-back in the big games instead of him.
So that leaves Mateu Alemany needing to clean up another mistake from the summer window, when Carlos Bucero and Miguel Ángel Gil spent a lot of money to jolt the club into the future just to see Koke and Griezmann remain fundamental players anyway. While Alemany is at it, he should look into adding another midfielder, too.
