In Julián Álvarez’s debut, Atlético de Madrid tied 2-2 with Villarreal in the first round of La Liga

Atlético de Madrid drew 2-2 with Villarreal at the Estadio de La Cerámica, in the last match of the first day of the Spanish La Liga. It was a difficult start for both teams, given that both are still under construction, although the expectation was set in the debut of Julián Álvarez in the Colchonero. El Araña played the last 13 minutes, but could not shoot at the goal.

The pace was dizzying at the start with a back and forth game as both teams had chances. But there were two frenetic minutes when the home team opened the scoring and the visitors tied the score in a whirlwind of emotions.

In the 18th minute, Arnaut Danjuma received a perfect pass from goalkeeper Diego Conde and after a hook and cross shot he made it 1-0. In the 20th minute, Marcos Llorente equalised with a shot high and to the middle.

After the goals, the match dropped in intensity. But it was the Yellow Submarine who struck again in the 37th minute, with a corner kick taken by Álex Baena, goalkeeper Jan Oblak could not clear it. Koke tried to deflect it, but ended up putting it in his own goal.

The Colchoneros did not give up and before the break they managed to equalise for the second time. In the 49th minute Pablo Barrios Rivas sent a perfect cross that was headed in by Alexander Sorloth, who sealed the score at 2-2.

* Julian Alvarez’s entry

In the second half, Diego Simeone sent Ángel Correa onto the field to replace Sorloth. The former San Lorenzo player was the protagonist from the first minutes and suffered a foul from Eric Bailly, which was reviewed by referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernández at the request of the VAR, but he decided not to sanction the foul.

Later, Cholo Simeone looked for more depth in the recovery and handling of the ball in midfield and Rodrigo De Paul came on for Koke with 27 minutes left.

Although the most anticipated moment was Julián Álvarez’s debut for Atlético Madrid. At 77 minutes, El Araña was willing to enter the field and did so in place of Antoine Griezmann. With the presence of the Cordovan, four world champions in Qatar 2022 shared the field with De Paul, Correa and Nahuel Molina, who also came on from the bench.

As soon as he entered the field, El Araña was active in attack and made an effort to recover the ball in the opponent’s area. In the heat of the match, he committed a foul on Daniel Parejo.

In the final minutes, Villarreal played more in Atlético Madrid’s half, but came up against the ironclad defense of Simeone’s team, who dropped back and prevented Julián Álvarez from making contact with the ball.

In the next match, Atlético Madrid will play at home against Girona on Sunday, starting at 16:30 in Argentina. At the Metropolitano, Julián Álvarez will try to score his first goals in the Albirroja jersey.

Formations

Villarreal: Diego Conde; Kiko Femenia, Bailly, Albiol, Cardona; Comesana, Parejo, Alex Baena, Yeremy Pino; Danjuma and Gerard Moreno.

Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Cesar Azpilicueta, Le Normand, Witsel, Reinildo; Marcos Llorente; Koke, Pablo Barrios Rivas, Lino; Griezmann and Sorloth.

Referee: Cuadra Fernández (C. Balear).

Stadium: Ceramics Stadium.

TV: Movistar LaLiga TV (for Spain) DSports (for Latin America)

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