Atlético de Madrid started and finished strongly in a comfortable home win over relegation-threatened Mallorca on Sunday.
Alexander Sørloth opened the scoring midway through the first half with a simple tap-in, and though Mallorca hung around for a while, Los Bermellones never looked like equalizing. A David López own goal put the result to bed, and substitute Thiago Almada scored a golazo in the final minutes to apply some extra sheen to the scoreline.
With this result, Atleti leapfrog Villarreal
(who have a game in hand) and go third in LaLiga, eight points behind leaders Barcelona. Let’s dive into the takeaways.
A goal from a throw-in
After 22 minutes on Sunday, it was clear already this Sørloth performance against Mallorca would be much better than his last one.
Back in October, substitute Sørloth was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Antonio Raíllo, just 10 minutes after he entered an eventual 1-1 draw at Son Moix. Three months later, Sørloth’s situation has changed: after an injury to Álex Baena, he has started eight of the past nine games and he is scoring goals regularly.
Sørloth’s goal Sunday came from a rare source: a throw-in routine. Giuliano Simeone launched the ball toward Sørloth, who flicked it back toward Marcos Llorente. Full-back Johan Mojica made a clearance, but only as far as Llorente; goalkeeper Leo Román made the initial save from the Spaniard’s rifled shot, but the parry landed at Sørloth’s left foot.
“The other day we were practi ing throw-ins, because it’s an important part of the game, there are a lot of goals scored this way,” Diego Simeone said post-match. “Nowadays there are coaches just for throw-ins, and there’s growth in these small details.”
I’ve openly stated that Sørloth is not my cup of tea, and I don’t particularly enjoy the experience of watching him. But for the second time in as many seasons here, the Norwegian is Atleti’s top scorer in the league (he’s level with Julián Alvarez). He has scored on his past three starts in LaLiga, having notched three goals from 1.23 expected. It’s hard to argue that he isn’t the team’s biggest, most effective goal threat right now. Until he cools off — if he cools off — the more technical talents in the team, like Alvarez and Baena, are going to have to mold their games to suit him.
Llorente’s luck changes
In Istanbul on Wednesday, Llorente was in the wrong place at the wrong time as he put a Leroy Sané cross into his own net, ultimately condemning Atlético to a damaging 1-1 draw at Galatasaray. On Sunday, Llorente had an opportunity to change his luck and ensure that second goal would belong to Atleti
Atleti had been leading 1-0 for a while when, in the 75th minute, Llorente (pushed into midfield due to the lack of present options) combined with Marc Pubill (pushed to right-back as part of a change in defensive shape) on the edge of the Mallorca area. The one-two saw Llorente bound up the flank and cross toward a poaching Alvarez — but center-back López got there first, and he put the ball behind Román.
Even after Wednesday’s own goal, Llorente had saved Atleti’s bacon anyway with a last-second clearance that prevented a certain Galatasaray winner. Sunday saw the 30-year-old return to normal operation: he contributed indirectly to two goals while recovering the ball five times, winning five ground duels and offering fans a discount code for 20 percent off a pair of blue light-blocking glasses from his Aureo LightStyle company.
The state of the Atleti bench
With Antoine Griezmann ruled out due to a thigh injury, Cholo Simeone had little weaponry in reserve and used 15 of the 18 first-team players available to him.
Even still, Simeone found a context in which to change the match. His in-game substitutions were much-improved from Wednesday in Turkey; two of his tactical changes led directly to goals.
We already talked about the Pubill-Llorente connection that sparked Atleti’s second, but the buzzing Thiago Almada got among the scorers in the 87th minute, dribbling, cutting in and roofing a right-footed shot from the second phase of a corner.
It’s Almada’s third goal of the season — all scored from the bench, and all scored at the Metropolitano. This is the role in which the Argentine has performed best this season: when Atleti are trying to see out a result, Almada obliges them to continue attacking, to maintain possession, to avoid going to sleep and defending frantically in a low block at the end of a match. He may not have the legs or the defined position to start regularly, but this is a great context for him to contribute.
In the final week of the January transfer window, Atlético are under significant pressure — including from Simeone himself — to sign one or two players who will bring an instant qualitative leap. So far, the club has been paralyzed in the market. Mateu Alemany has been able to sort out four exits and replenish the coffers with more than €60 million in transfer fees, but the sporting sector is still led by Miguel Ángel Gil, who has not given the green light for any signing just yet.
Time is running out. Almada and Griezmann are great to have when games need to be unlocked, but starters have to arrive that will really strengthen the team and put it in a better position in the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Champions League and even LaLiga (if there is a second-half run to be had). It’s not acceptable for Simeone to have 16 players to count on for the rest of the season; barring something really surprising, Atlético Madrileño or Juvenil players wouldn’t be serious options.
