2:1!Simeone's substitution, the former genius finishes the final game, Atletico Madrid returns to the top 4, thanks to Real Madrid
Despite knocking out Inter on penalties in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, Atletico Madrid's Champions League spot situation is not optimistic, and after losing to Barcelona in the previous round, the Sheets have fallen to fifth. In the 30th round of La Liga, Atletico Madrid went away to face Villarreal, Witsel opened the scoring, Therot equalized, substitute Saul scored the winning goal, and Atletico Madrid retreated 2:1 away.
As a veteran powerhouse in La Liga, Villarreal fell to the edge of the relegation zone at the beginning of the season, but fortunately it has recovered after the change of coach, and the recent wave of 9 rounds of unbeaten has returned to the middle of the standings. In this game, Simeone welcomed the return of Antoine Griezmann, the French striker partnered Depay in the attack, Lino, Marcos Llorente, Barrios, Koke, Riquelme combined in the midfield, Raelnido, Jimenez, Witsel formed a back three system, and Oblak stood in front of the goal.
With the referee's whistle, Atletico Madrid showed the momentum of winning three points away from home; in the 8th minute, Griezmann penetrated the opponent's defense, and Lino's forward volley was bravely blocked by Joensen; and then Riquelme took a corner kick, and Witsel looked back at the moon to break the deadlock with a header, 1:0! After leaving Tianjin Quanjian in 2018, Witsel returned to the top five leagues, whether it was in Dort or Atletico Madrid, the 35-year-old Belgian is still the main player of the two strong teams.
In the 17th minute, Depera went to the right to advance a cross, Marcos Llorente received the ball and volleyed the ball, Joensen flew to seal the ball off the line, in the 25th minute, Gerard Moreno cut away from the Lino defense and volleyed, the ball went high above the goal, and then Depay and Riquelme shot from the perimeter in succession, but failed to hit the woodwork, and Atletico entered the dressing room with a one-goal advantage.
In the 50th minute, Gerard Moreno got rid of the cross knock in the front of the penalty area, Savic failed to steal, and Thero's low shot penetrated Oblak's goal, 1:1! Atletico Madrid lost the ball in the second half, and in the 53rd minute, Mandy's instep shot from outside the front of the penalty area missed the goal. Then Villarreal made a series of substitutions and adjustments, trying to use the home advantage and the morale they had built up to counterattack in one fell swoop.
Simeone did not dare to slack off in responding, with Alvaro Morata, Angel Correa and Cesar Azpilicueta coming on together, and Saul also getting a chance to play, and this substitution was a watershed moment in the game. In the 87th minute, Angel Correa scored in the front of the penalty area, Azpilicueta knocked his back, and Saul pushed and scored the killer goal, 2:1!
It was Saul's first league goal of the season, having made a name for himself in the knockout rounds of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, but then suffered a severe left kidney injury in the Champions League clash at Bayer Leverkusen, which left a lasting effect on his career. In the latest update, the 29-year-old has only €7.5 million left, which is a far cry from the €90 million he was at his peak.
In the end, Atletico Madrid won 2-1, ending a two-game losing streak in the league, because Athletic Bilbao lost to Real Madrid in this round, Atletico Madrid was able to return to fourth place in the league, and in the 33rd round of the league, Atletico Madrid will face the Basque Lions, and the outcome of this game is likely to affect the prospects of the two teams competing for Champions League places.