Atlético de Madrid played well and deserved their win over Deportivo Alaves on Sunday afternoon, but the Colchoneros were only secure a 1-0 win amid a nervy ending in front of 61,192 fans at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
Alexander Sørloth’s 48th-minute header from Pablo Barrios’ looping cross saw Atlético finally break the deadlock after they recorded 16 shots without scoring in the first half. Atleti held Alavés without a shot on target for the entire match and recorded a 12th successive home win across all competitions, even after the visitors piled on the pressure in the dying minutes and narrowly missed a chance to equalize through Lucas Boyé.
Let’s dive into some takeaways after Atleti pulled into a tie with Villarreal for third place in LaLiga:
The defense of the future…today!
Atlético kept another clean sheet on Sunday. Through 20 rounds, no team in Spain has conceded fewer goals than Atleti’s 17 (Real Madrid have conceded as many). The 56 shots on target that Atleti have conceded is the lowest figure in the league.
The recent turnaround has taken Atleti from “below-average” at the back to “above-average” and even “good.” It has a lot to do with Marc Pubill and Dávid Hancko solidifying themselves as Diego Simeone’s starting central defenders.
Álvaro Carreras and Eric García are the only defenders who have played more progressive passes in LaLiga than Hancko, who has consistently delivered since his €30 million arrival from Feyenoord six months ago. In a game that missed Koke’s influence for the first hour, Hancko did some traffic direction of his own: he led all players in completed passes. Out of possession, he made five clearances and four recoveries.
Like Hancko, Pubill’s ball-carrying and passing range have modernized Atlético’s defense. The 22-year-old’s emergence over the past two months has helped the Atleti back line become more flexible and harder to crack in transition. Pubill won all six of his aerial duels against Alavés, made eight clearances in all and recovered the ball three times. Atleti paid €16 million to get him from Almería; his Spain debut this year feels inevitable.
It’s not the biggest sample size, but in the seven games that Hancko and Pubill have started next to one another, Atlético have kept three clean sheets. The team’s record in those games? Five won, one drawn, one lost.
“Follow the leader” and it’s Pablo Barrios
Speaking to DAZN before the game, Atlético’s Director of Football Mateu Alemany praised the club’s academy setup — a pyramid at the top of which Atlético Madrileño, trying to win promotion to Segunda for the first time this century.
“We have a brilliant academy,” Alemany said. “Atlético Madrileño are having an impressive campaign, fighting to be first in a tough division like the Primera RFEF. There are important projects (in lower divisions), the youth players are there to contribute and find spots in the first team.”
Giuliano Simeone, one product of this academy, signed a new contract to 2030 earlier this week. Another, Barrios, has been Atleti’s best player this season and is fast becoming one of their leaders.
Barrios’ cross for Sørloth marked his first assist in the league, an oddity for someone who ranks as one of LaLiga’s most prolific carriers and distributors into the penalty area. Though Sørloth’s header kissed off the post for a great finish, Barrios’ assist capped his stellar all-around performance with five chances created, five recoveries and six tackles won.
Remember last January, when Barrios was picking up red cards and struggling to stay on the pitch? This season, he has yet to pick up a yellow card in LaLiga, let alone a red card. His ball control has improved. He’s capable of organizing the team. He wins the ball cleanly and frequently while driving it forward at a high rate.
And best of all? He’s been a Colchonero since the age of 14. Uno di noi.
Simeone should not have bothered to use his last two subs
Cholo Simeone had used three of his five changes as Sunday’s match entered the final 15 minutes. After a triple change saw Koke, Álex Baena and Antoine Griezmann enter the game with an hour gone, the coach opted to go defensive. That was understandable; Johnny Cardoso had been on a yellow card for a while, and Josema Giménez has those persistent fitness issues. So Robin Le Normand entered, even though the Spain international has been in woeful form since his return from a knee injury.
But on 86 minutes, Simeone turned once more to his bench to dust off Nahuel Molina, who has largely resumed to his bit-part role since Llorente returned from injury last month. Molina’s entry for the goalscorer Sørloth only dragged Atleti deeper. He gave away a corner to begin stoppage time as Alavés pushed for a draw — and in the game’s final act, Koke gave away a free kick some 28 yards from goal. From there, Lucas Boyé had an empty net to head into, but his effort sailed safely over the crossbar.
Simeone has been enamored with the five substitutions rule since IFAB first introduced it as a temporary provision during the COVID-19 pandemic. The coach sees it not only as a way to keep his best players fresh, but as a logical evolution of his famed man-management style, an ideal strategy to demonstrate trust in the ones who aren’t starting.
This has sometimes worked; Atlético won LaLiga in 2020/21 with 14 outfield players logging at least 1,000 minutes, and aggressive in-game changes defined Atleti’s club-record 15-game winning run last season. But often times, the decision to exhaust all five subs continually, sometimes while making three changes at once, puts the team in danger of conceding or dropping points. It’s a wager with which Simeone is willing to live.
I’ve written this season about how El Cholo is becoming less and less practical as his legendary tenure continues. Sunday was another example; Atlético were cruising toward a win, but the Rojiblancos only barely avoided a disaster in the final seconds. Simeone didn’t ask to be ahead by just one goal in the final quarter of an hour, but faced with that situation against a side that was slipping into the drop zone, he didn’t have a sensible solution.
