Victory to start 2014
Atletco Madrid got 2014 under way with the league game at the Rosaleda against Malaga in the early afternoon kick off. The big news in the starting line up was the inclusion of Oliver Torres who starts the year in the starting line up.
It was Simeones side who came out controlling the game forcing the home side deep in to their own half and looking to play on the counter attack. A tough defensive block from Bernd Schuster’s team meant that chances were few and far between in the early part of the game.
With a quarter of an hour played the Atleitco players were looking toward the referee as David Villa down in the area under pressure from Wellington but the man with the whistle waved away the appeals.
The first chance of the game came on the 20th minute after a powerfull run from Juanfran on the right hand side, the fullback made his way in to the penalty area and used his strength to get space to shoot, but his effort was deflected behind and out for a corner. The red & whites kept the pressure on and after the set piece was cleared, Koke crossed early, whipping the ball across the face of goal, but the ball just missed the two targets on the edge of the six yard box.
Atleti continued to control until the half hour mark when the home side finally managed their first shot on goal. Good work from Eliseu on the right who got in behind the defence and shot across the keeper but Courtois was equal to the effort and saved easily. Straight after their first chance Malaga came again, this time a shot from distance by Samu which missed the target completely.
Atletico Madrid regained control of the possession in the final stages of the half but the sides went in even at the break.
At the break Deigo Pablo someone made a tactical change as he looked to field a more attacking side in the second half, bringing on the forward Adrian to replace midfielder Oliver Torres. With the two previous league meetings between these sides in the Rosaleda ending in a scoreless draw the Argentine manager didn’t want the same to happen again today.
The second half started in a similar fashion to the first with things really even and neither side creating many chances, the tight defensive work of both teams coming out on top. Simeone again saw the need to change things and in the 61t minute brought on Cristian Rodriguez to replace Arda Turan on the wing in order to inject some pace in to the Atletic Madrid attacks.
The breakthrough came for the visitor with 70 minutes on the clock to give them a deserved lead. A powerful shot from Diego Costa from inside the area was parried by Willy Cabellero in the Malaga goal, the rebound fell on the penalty spot to Koke who made no mistake, scoring the opening goal for Atleti in 2014 to make it 1-0 with just 20 minutes left to play.
The resilient Atletico Madrid held on to their lead in the final 20 minutes thanks to some solid defending and good goal keeping from Courtois and in the 84th minute, Simeone brought on Toby Alederweireld to sure things up as the red and whites started the new year with 3 points in a well fought 1-0 win over Malaga. The team will now beging preparation for the Copa del Rey game coming up in midweek against Valencia.
