Atlético de Madrid exorcised their Levante ghosts on the afternoon of Halloween by knocking on the door of the Ciutat de València and coming away with three points’ worth of candy.
Alejandro Grimaldo put Atleti into the lead with a frightful first-half strike, before Giuliano Simeone doubled the team’s advantage with a bone-chilling finish after the restart.
The win momentarily puts Diego Simeone’s men top of the LaLiga table, with Barcelona able to regain the position later tonight.
Here are Into the
Calderón’s player ratings for this one.
Player ratings
Jan Oblak: An Oblak at full stretch is always a great sight, and we were treated to just that when he leapt over to his right to keep out a chance in the 10th minute. It feels like he’s entering into a complete lockdown mode of his goal, with today his sixth clean sheet of the season in just 11 games. 7
Marcos Llorente: Apart from that one piece of nonsensical passing that almost led to a Levante goal in the second half, it was a tidy performance from Marcos this afternoon. He had a good shot saved in the 29th minute by a strong hand from Mat Ryan in the Levante goal. Had a run out in midfield to fill in Pablo Barrios’ spot, presumably while we wait for Koke and Johnny Cardoso to regain fitness and as Simeone remains untrusting of Rodrigo Mendoza and Obed Vargas. 6
Marc Pubill: Just a super mature performance by the youngster, and one that had us all enamored of him last season. Nothing outrageously good, but not one foot wrong, from what I saw. May he continue as such with Bayern Munich and Barcelona on the horizon, who will no doubt demand a high level from everyone. 7
Dávid Hancko: What an incredible last-minute touch that was to save Llorente’s bacon and prevent Etta Eyong from halving Atleti’s lead. Hancko is on a run of four games where he’s been crucial in keeping Oblak’s goal as empty as possible, which has been especially important since Cuti Romero’s absence. I feel like the forward players in the team need to be more active when he picks up the ball with space to pick a pass; along with Grimaldo, his left foot is among the best in the league. He’d have been on the score sheet had he timed his run better, as well. My man of the match. 8
Alejandro Grimaldo: I wouldn’t feel like I’m going out on too much of limb by saying he has been the signing of the season in LaLiga. That’s four goals and two assists from Grimaldo, who made the most of a poor piece of defending to fire Atleti into the lead. For a moment it felt his second touch had made the angle too tight for the world champion, but he used that position to his advantage by shooting powerfully into the roof of the net past Ryan. He’ll be shadowing enough golf swings for a full round at this rate. 7
Morten Hjulmand: Good stuff from Hjulmand today, showing that he is clearly a level above these kind of teams. I’m not sure he’ll keep his place in the starting lineup once Cardoso is back, but performances like this will have him playing a large number of minutes, especially when the matches come thick and fast. 6
Pablo Barrios: The first time I became aware of Barrios was when he struck a missile of a shot into the top corner for the U19s against Real Madrid in the UEFA Youth League. Since then I can’t remember an occasion where he’s dared to shoot from outside of the box when driving towards goal with the ball, and today I would have liked to have seen that from him. It was a good midfield performance, on the whole, especially in the tighter spots where he looked good in the way he poked the ball around the opposition. 7
Giuliano Simeone: When his goal hit the back of the net and the camera cut to the Atleti manager running down the touchline in celebration, I was reminded just how special it is that Giuliano is that man’s son. There’s definitely more of a smile in El Cholo’s face when his boy scores, and today that was coupled with the goal finishing off an excellent counter-attacking move. He threatened with a shot just minutes before that sailed over from his left boot, but the touch and finish around the onrushing Ryan was a great display of calm in a tight spot to double his team’s lead. 7
Kang-in Lee: Admittedly, it is exciting watching a player on your team with excellent technical ability always looking to take his man on and make something happen. However, I do think Kang-in has to be used differently to a second striker; it’s not a good look on him. I’d prefer he play with a true number nine, or as a right-winger (but we know wingers don’t really exist in a Simeone team). When on the ball, Kang-in was positive, and his shot off the underside of the bar would have been a nice reward for his hard work today. 5
Álex Baena: There’s an argument to be made for Baena to be put among the category of “player that doesn’t seem to do a whole lot for a large part of the game, but is incredibly important when it matters”. That was most obvious a couple of weeks ago away to Espanyol, and today he once again when he displayed just the right weight of pass after a long run to slot Giuliano through for Atlético’s second. Had Hjulmand kept himself onside in the first half, he’d have another assist to his name as well, and it was his ball that Jon Olasagasti failed to control which allowed Grimaldo in to open the scoring. 7
Julián Alvarez: As a player playing off the striker, Alvarez played a good match today. He worked hard to win the ball back, dropped into the space between the defence and midfield, and was tidy with his passes. The only problem was that he was named as the team’s furthest forward player. There were a few times in the first half when the creative players around him delivered a dangerous ball into the box, only to find out that no-one had made the required run. I’d shift half of the blame to the manager for expecting something different, and half to the player for not recognising his role as a striker in certain situations the match offered. 5
Substitutes
Jonathan David: Unlucky to have not started this match after being tested in training alongside Alvarez this week. The game was begging for someone with his brain in the first half, with many crosses left unmet in the opposition box. Hopefully he can have an impact in the important matches coming up next week, as today he was unable to do much with the time he was given and the situation in which the game was in once he came on. 5
Alexander Sørloth: A hard-working 25 minutes from the big man, who looks ready to start a game or two before the year ends. It’s been a long road back to full fitness, but his endeavour up top could be useful from the off in a game of this kind. 6
Robin Le Normand: Somehow the defender came onto the pitch already looking tired, but he got his messy haircut on the ball on a couple of occasions to keep it away from any danger. 6
Ademola Lookman: His reaction at full time that showed frustration at David blocking his shot in what was his only action on the ball sums Lookman up at the moment. Hopefully he can stay positive, as he’ll no doubt be needed next week against difficult opposition. 4
