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DAVID G. MEDINA
Updated
The first part was a monument to intensity and intention. To the desire. To try to play. To propose. To arrive. To create. To do harm. To get people out of their seats. In a Betis-Atlético match, with all due respect, all of this must correspond to the Madrid team, the third largest in the championship and the only one with the capacity to stand up to the Barça-Madrid duo. Nothing could be further from the truth, because it was the local team that passed over the rojiblancos, minimized, lost and with quality failures inappropriate for someone who aspired (or aspired) to fight in LaLiga. Thus, he will have problems even playing in the next Champions League.
Betis 1-0 Atlético de Madrid: summary and goal | LaLiga EA Sports (J11)
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Simeone’s despair
Rarely, during a match, is Simeone seen as desperate as in the first act. In the end, before the break, the Argentine showed his disbelief by bending down, touching his jacket and looking at the bench, perhaps thinking about what to do. In fact, contrary to what he usually does, he did not hesitate to speak with Piñedo, the physical trainer, to tell the players that they should push during the intermission to try to turn around a Dantesque match. Cholo, better than anyone, knows when the team is down… and the first half of Villamarín is the best example of this.
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Gallagher, the Pitbull who no longer bites… or plays
It was the most brilliant appearance among Atlético’s signings. Arriving and kissing the saint for his involvement, attitude and desire in every play. Some message to the stands and his impeccable attitude in the summer while his signing was closed, which was a soap opera, helped. Then came the two goals against Valencia and Rayo and Conor Gallagher, we talked about him, he dressed as an idol at times. But that seems far away seeing his last performances and 45 minutes like the ones he played against Betis before being replaced by a desperate Simeone with his mistakes with the ball and his positioning. The Pitbull didn’t even bite. You must take flight.
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Abde, a nightmare
A one-on-one after Atlético’s umpteenth gross mistake sent him out by millimeters. Another play on the wing ended with a left foot that took splinters from the crossbar of an Oblak who did not understand what was happening on the Villamarín pitch… and how was it possible that Abde was an uncontrollable demon for the Witsel, Reinildo, Molina and other defenses of an Atlético team that was overwhelmed in a start to forget.
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The bad luck of the best central defender
Goal by Giménez (pp) (1-0) in Betis 1-0 Atlético
Few doubt, with Le Normand out, that José María Giménez is the best center back of an Atlético that is suffering the greatest consequences of injuries in the center. Nobody doubts that the Uruguayan, as he is this season, is one of the great leaders of the team. Hence the 1-0 score was especially cruel when it was scored on the 2nd as an own goal after a horrible start by the red and whites, another one, which this time was penalized by a target in which Josema’s touch ended up confusing Oblak… that he could do nothing. Not even his usual miracles.
