Atletico Madrid 1-1 Valencia
If ever there was a clash of the challengers and a chance for the winners to dream big and set out their stall for this year’s La Liga title race, this was it.
Yes, Atletico have long been accustomed to upsetting the duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid under coach Diego Simeone, and they did so again by splitting them last season to take the runners-up spot.
Yes, Valencia sealed the fourth and final Champions League spot last term and then made it even better when they capped off a memorable campaign by lifting the Copa del Rey in memorable fashion.
But this was a chance to lay down a marker of their own in the marathon that is the league and show they can challenge during the long winter ahead.
Highlights of the game
Atleti coach Diego Simeone didn’t include Vitolo in his starting line-up. The winger returned from injury and trained with his team-mates this week. But he was not risked, presumably with the midweek visit of Bayer Leverkusen in mind.
In addition to the Canary Islander, Stefan Savic was unavailable due to a muscle injury.
Before the La Liga 2019 highlights got underway, there were moving scenes as former Atletico Madrid player Jorge Griffa received an honorary plaque.
Griffa played for the club in the 1960s and won one league title, one Cup Winners Cup and three Copa del Rey titles. After leaving the club, he went onto discover and develop some of the best Argentine talents of recent decades, such as Jorge Valdano, Gabriel Batistuta and now Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Both sets of players were also wearing pink armbands to mark their support for breast cancer awareness month.
Much had been said before the match of the need for the hosts to end a scoring drought. They have failed to find the net in four of their past five league matches, with Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata both netting just one goal each so far this season.
So, it was barely a surprise that when the deadlock was broken, it came from the penalty spot.
Nine minutes before half-time, Denis Cheryshev was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area. VAR confirmed the decision and Costa converted the resulting spot-kick.
Before then, Morata had twice come close with a header and a shot which was blocked, while Saul Niguez also wasn’t far away with a left-footed effort.
However, Cheryshev was a threat before and after the break for Valencia, and seven minutes after the restart, he hit the bar with a strike as they searched for an equaliser.
Atletico remained the better side overall, but there was always the risk their failure to add a second goal – and they did have chances – could prove costly.
So it proved as, two minutes after Joao Felix had to leave the fray injured after Simeone had made all his three substitutions, Valencia equalised.
It was another set-piece goal as Daniel Parejo delivered a free-kick into the top right-hand corner.
It finally saw Jan Oblak beaten.
The shot-stopper hadn’t conceded a goal in more than 555 minutes. He kept five consecutive clean sheets with neither Celta Vigo, Real Mallorca, Real Madrid, Lokomotiv Moscow nor Real Valladolid able to find a way past the Slovenian number one.
If not for Oblak, Parejo would have scored again within two minutes as Valencia sensed a turnaround.
It actually finished 10 versus 10 as South Korean substitute Lee Kang-In was shown a yellow card, upgraded to red by VAR, for a late foul.
So, a point apiece but really a result that will not help either side’s hopes of challenging the big boys for the top prize.
Both continue to overachieve but the SBOBET La Liga 2019 betting odds suggest neither will mount a bid for the championship just yet.
Key statistics
This is Valencia’s longest ever winless streak against Atletico.
Los Che have not beaten them in each of their last 10 outings in La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Their last win over Los Rojiblancos came in October 2014 when goals from Andre Gomes, Nicolas Otamendi and an own goal from Miranda gave them a 3-1 win at Mestalla.
Until today, Blaise Matuidi was the last player to score past Oblak when he netted Juventus’ second goal in the Champions League game at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.
What’s next?
There’s two more home matches next week for Atletico.
Bayer Leverkusen are the visitors in the Champions League on Tuesday followed by Athletic Bilbao in La Liga next Saturday.
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