Azerbaijan, land of football
Goals from Raul Garcia (2) and Óliver gave Atletico the victory in the friendly ending the tour in Azerbaijan where the Atletico enjoyed the hospitality and beauty of the Land of Fire.
All Star Azerbaijan 0-3 Atletico Madrid
All Star Azerbaijan: Agayev, Quliyev, N.Mammadov, Nabiyev, Aliyev, Abdullayez, E.Mammadov, Alaskarov, Huseynov, Haciyev, Aliyev. Also played: Madatov, Bayramzact, Rzazada, Qurbatov, Seyidov, Novruzov, Mustafayev, Suleymanov.
Atlético de Madrid: Asenjo, Pulido (Juanfran, 63´), Cata, Cisma (Filipe, 63´), Insua, Tiago (Mario, 63´), Koke (Saúl, 46), Cristian Rodríguez (Raúl García, 46´), Óliver, Villa (Diego Costa, 46´) & Adrián (Gabi, 63´)
Goals:
Min. 43: 0-1: Óliver
Min. 83: 0-2: Raúl García
Min. 87:0-3: Raúl García
Atletico ended two days discovering the wonders of Baku and the country Azerbaijan with a comfortable win in the friendly match against the best players in the country. Simeone gave minutes to all the squad and decided to field two youth players in Óliver and for the first time Samuel Villa, who debuted with the first team on the right as a reward for his great season with the Youth Division of Honour side.
The red and whites clearly dominated the first half and continually put pressure on the opposition area without really testing Agayev. Right at the start of the game, Tiago almost opened the scoring but caught offside after a great pass from Koke. In the next move, Adrian showed his speed to leave the defender but his header was saved in the bottom left corner. Insua was the next to beat the keeper in the 17th minute but he too was offside.
The rojiblancos continued to push despite the early knockbacks. From the left of Cristian Rodriguez pushed on and found Óliver who beat the goalkeeper recording his first goal for the first team.
The second half began with the usual substitutions associated with a friendly, but it didn’t chance the momentum of the game. The red and whites continued to dominate and came close to doubling their lead and would have done so if it wasn’t for Mammadov, the goalkeeper would kept out Raul Garcia after a cross from Insua. The Azeri goalkeeper was becoming the biggest star of his team. In the following attack, Diego Costa was set through by Adrian but the keeper made a double save to keep the score down.
The Brazilian was playing as sole striker but was well supported by men who came from behind. Among them, the most prominent was Raul Garcia. The Navarre had two chances saved by the goalkeeper before he converted the second of the night. Diego Costa saw Mario Suarez had lost his man and as he found himself alone with the keeper, he waited patiently to play in Raul Garcia to make it 2-0 in the 83rd minute.
That wasn’t the end of the scoring, in the 87th minute when Raul Garcia took advantage of a rebound from the keeper after a shot from Saul make it three and bag his second of the night. The game ended two spectacular days on the shores of the Caspian Sea in the Land of Fire.