In the early morning of December 19, Beijing time, a strong dialogue in the 18th round of La Liga, the defending champion Atletico Madrid challenged Sevilla away. In the end, after 90 minutes, Sevilla relied on 87 minutes of deadlocked goals to win 2-1 against Atletico madrid to get three points and continue to follow Real Madrid in the standings.
Although they failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage, Sevilla's La Liga results this season are to be praised, and they are second in the league after Real Madrid before the game. Led by head coach Lopetegui, Sevilla have maintained relatively stable league results in recent seasons.
On The Atletico side, Simeone's defending champions, it is basically unlikely that they will want to surpass Real Madrid this season. After losing to Real Madrid in the last round, Atletico have been 13 points behind the top of the table, which is a more obvious gap. In the just-concluded Champions League round of 16 draw, Atletico met Manchester United.
In the starting squad, due to Griezmann's injury, Simeone could only send a two-striker combination of Suarez and Correa, and De Paul did not start. On Sevilla's side, Rafamir was on standby, and Lopetegui unexpectedly sent 20-year-old youth team youngster Romero to the field.
Just seven minutes into the game, former Barca veteran Rakitic scored the ball outside the penalty area and Croatian star poked a hole in the world through the goal guarded by Oblak, giving Sevilla a 1-0 lead. In the middle of the first half, Atletico successfully equalized, relying on a corner attack, Felipe scored a header, and the two sides returned to the same running line 1-1 at halftime.
In this game of strong dialogue, the goal of both teams is not just a 1-point draw. Back in the second half, the managers of both sides continued to dispatch troops, and Su Ya was also replaced early. Su Ya, who had no chance to break the goal, was also very depressed on the field, and he smashed his shoes in anger.
Just when both sides thought the match would end in a draw, in the 87th minute, Sevilla achieved a deadlock. On a corner kick opportunity, Ocampos volleyed the goal to rewrite the aggregate score to 2-1, and Atletico fell down in the final moments and suffered a major blow.
At the end of the match, Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid 2-1, scoring three points to continue to follow Real Madrid in the standings. Although he failed to qualify in the Champions League group stage, Lopetegui was able to devote himself to the league journey. Sevilla, which has a strong performance, is waiting for Real Madrid to make a mistake.
For the defending champions, on the other hand, being killed is a result that they cannot accept. After the early morning game, they suffered three consecutive defeats in La Liga, and even could not surpass Rayo Vallecano to win the Champions League zone, which is currently 13 points behind Real Madrid. Simeone's Atletico have been weak this season and it is very difficult to defend the league title.