A Barral goal does away with Atlético’s hopes in Gijón (1-0)
Cuéllar saves the equaliser on a Valera header at the death
Atlético de Madrid got off to a poor start in the second half of league play against Sporting de Gijón in a match that was decided by a small detail, a ball that the visiting defence was unable to deal with inside the area that Barral took advantage of to beat De Gea. The encounter at El Molinón was not characterized by good football or chances created by either side, but the home side did enough to earn three points that help them in their battle to avoid relegation. For the Madrid ‘rojiblanco’, three points have gotten away and the team is distanced from its European goal.
Quique Sánchez Flores’ lads were trying to start over again and, if possible, do so with a victory. They wanted to repeat the 4-0 thumping they gave Sporting to start the season, but this couldn’t have been further from reality as they found themselves with a painful defeat by the minimum.
Five months after that opening match, plenty had changed in the Madrid squad, without Jurado, as he headed for Schalke 04 after that game in which he opened the scoring, and withouth Simão, who left for Besiktas during the winter signing period. Also out were Agüero, Mario Suárez and Reyes, injured, in addition to Tiago, who was a last-minute scratch with a hamstring strain. However, winter signings Juanfran and Elías were available and in the starting line-up.
Facing them was a Sporting side with three former Atlético playersin its ranks. Cuéllar, a goalkeeper who arrived at the Club as a youngster and left on loan after making his First Division debut with the first squad, Iván Hernández, who was also formed in the ‘rojiblanco’ youth system, and De Las Cuevas, who was signed by the first squad from Hércules and played with the senior side after overcoming a serious ankle injury, but moved on to the club from Asturias in search of minutes.
The clash began with pace as both teams came out looking to control the midfield and take command of the match. Nevertheless, the defenders won out over the strikers in the first half, as there were no shots on goal from either side in the opening 45 minutes. The play was choppy, with the home squad calling for fouls all over the pitch and wasting time by sending balls out of play to attend to their injured players. That was undoubtedly an influential factor in the fact that there was very little fluid play.
After the break, the script looked like it was going to be the same as in the first half, but a defensive error allowed Sporting to take the lead on the scoreboard. There was a lack of communication in the clearance and the ball fell to the feet of Barral, who shot past a surprised De Gea. The first shot of the match between the three posts found the back of the net and it was a tough blow for Quique Sánchez Flores’ lads.
The outlook was bleak for an Atlético de Madrid squad that, starting with the goal, began to enjoy more possession, but was unable to create clear scoring chances. Sporting tried to close out the win on the counter-attack, where they felt most comfortable. De las Cuevas tried to surprise De Gea without luck and, shortly afterwards, Diego Castro took a free kick that was wrapped up by the Madrid goalkeeper.
With the entrance of Fran Mérida, Atlético de Madrid became more offensive and had clearer ideas in attack. The Catalan midfielder sent a nice pass in to Diego Costa, but the striker was unable to get a good strike on the ball because Gregory got just enough of his foot on it to send it over for a corner kick.
The ‘rojiblanco’s tried to level until the final whistle, but luck wasn’t on their side. Valera had the equaliser on a header off a free kick taken by Forlán, but Cuéllar made a fantastic diving stop to save his team. Atlético de Madrid were unable to start out the second round as they had began the season, with a victory. They didn’t attack the opposing goal decisively and ran out of time to try and come away from El Molinón with something positive.
SPORTING DE GIJÓN, 1 (Barral); ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 0
Sporting: Cuéllar; Lora, Iván Hernández, Gregory, Canella; Eguren; De las Cuevas (Nacho Novo, 77’), Rivera, Cases, Diego Castro (Jorge, 86’) (André Castro, 90’); and Barral.
Atlético de Madrid: De Gea; Valera, Ujfalusi, Perea, Antonio López (Filipe Luis, 84’); Juanfran, Raúl García (Koke, 77’), Paulo Assunçao, Elías (Fran Mérida, 67’); Diego Costa and Forlán.
Referee: Estrada Fernández. For the home team showed a yellow card to Barral (36’) and Eguren (74’); for Atlético de Madrid booked Raúl García (57’), Perea (69’) and Fran Mérida (87’).
Incidents: Estadio El Molinón. 20,000 spectators, with around 200 ‘rojiblanco’ supporters.
GOAL:
1-0. 51’. Barral aprovecha un balón que no aciertan a despejar los zagueros rojiblancos y fusila a De Gea.
Quique Sánchez Flores’ lads were trying to start over again and, if possible, do so with a victory. They wanted to repeat the 4-0 thumping they gave Sporting to start the season, but this couldn’t have been further from reality as they found themselves with a painful defeat by the minimum.
Five months after that opening match, plenty had changed in the Madrid squad, without Jurado, as he headed for Schalke 04 after that game in which he opened the scoring, and withouth Simão, who left for Besiktas during the winter signing period. Also out were Agüero, Mario Suárez and Reyes, injured, in addition to Tiago, who was a last-minute scratch with a hamstring strain. However, winter signings Juanfran and Elías were available and in the starting line-up.
Facing them was a Sporting side with three former Atlético playersin its ranks. Cuéllar, a goalkeeper who arrived at the Club as a youngster and left on loan after making his First Division debut with the first squad, Iván Hernández, who was also formed in the ‘rojiblanco’ youth system, and De Las Cuevas, who was signed by the first squad from Hércules and played with the senior side after overcoming a serious ankle injury, but moved on to the club from Asturias in search of minutes.
The clash began with pace as both teams came out looking to control the midfield and take command of the match. Nevertheless, the defenders won out over the strikers in the first half, as there were no shots on goal from either side in the opening 45 minutes. The play was choppy, with the home squad calling for fouls all over the pitch and wasting time by sending balls out of play to attend to their injured players. That was undoubtedly an influential factor in the fact that there was very little fluid play.
After the break, the script looked like it was going to be the same as in the first half, but a defensive error allowed Sporting to take the lead on the scoreboard. There was a lack of communication in the clearance and the ball fell to the feet of Barral, who shot past a surprised De Gea. The first shot of the match between the three posts found the back of the net and it was a tough blow for Quique Sánchez Flores’ lads.
The outlook was bleak for an Atlético de Madrid squad that, starting with the goal, began to enjoy more possession, but was unable to create clear scoring chances. Sporting tried to close out the win on the counter-attack, where they felt most comfortable. De las Cuevas tried to surprise De Gea without luck and, shortly afterwards, Diego Castro took a free kick that was wrapped up by the Madrid goalkeeper.
With the entrance of Fran Mérida, Atlético de Madrid became more offensive and had clearer ideas in attack. The Catalan midfielder sent a nice pass in to Diego Costa, but the striker was unable to get a good strike on the ball because Gregory got just enough of his foot on it to send it over for a corner kick.
The ‘rojiblanco’s tried to level until the final whistle, but luck wasn’t on their side. Valera had the equaliser on a header off a free kick taken by Forlán, but Cuéllar made a fantastic diving stop to save his team. Atlético de Madrid were unable to start out the second round as they had began the season, with a victory. They didn’t attack the opposing goal decisively and ran out of time to try and come away from El Molinón with something positive.
SPORTING DE GIJÓN, 1 (Barral); ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 0
Sporting: Cuéllar; Lora, Iván Hernández, Gregory, Canella; Eguren; De las Cuevas (Nacho Novo, 77’), Rivera, Cases, Diego Castro (Jorge, 86’) (André Castro, 90’); and Barral.
Atlético de Madrid: De Gea; Valera, Ujfalusi, Perea, Antonio López (Filipe Luis, 84’); Juanfran, Raúl García (Koke, 77’), Paulo Assunçao, Elías (Fran Mérida, 67’); Diego Costa and Forlán.
Referee: Estrada Fernández. For the home team showed a yellow card to Barral (36’) and Eguren (74’); for Atlético de Madrid booked Raúl García (57’), Perea (69’) and Fran Mérida (87’).
Incidents: Estadio El Molinón. 20,000 spectators, with around 200 ‘rojiblanco’ supporters.
GOAL:
1-0. 51’. Barral aprovecha un balón que no aciertan a despejar los zagueros rojiblancos y fusila a De Gea.