Feels Good Man

By: Al | May 18th, 2009

What a crazy game. We could have done a little better but who cares… as long as we won.

For the first time since the beginning of January, we are in a Champions League place. I can’t be happier, knowing that Atlético had a hell of an inconsistent season, and now we’re in 4th place dammit. Two victories away from hearing the cool Champions League music at the Calderon and getting cool high quality pictures from the UEFA website to be able to use on this here Offside page.

So please, Atleti, don’t slip again for these remaining two games. I beg you.

ATLETICO MADRID 1 – VALENCIA 0

The match was by no means an even game. Even though I hate stats, have a look anyway:

Shots (on goal):

Atlético 19 (11)
Valencia 3 (1)

Saves:

Atlético: 1
Valencia: 10

Possession:

Atlético: 43%
Valencia: 57%

Fouls:

Atlético: 21
Valencia: 11

Yeah, they had more possession and two disallowed goals, but man were we much busier and more in control.

Valencia started off playing well (did anyone see Pablo H’s badass heel flick?) and pushing up, but after that, it was our game. Right after Aguero’s terrible miss, which he flicked over the bar, Atlético began dominating the game, intercepting the ball almost every time and moving it up towards the attack. Kun Aguero had an excellent one-on-one chance and instead of running around Valencia keeper Cesar (who had a great game, by the way) he tripped and won us a penalty. Forlan netted the opener and Atlético resumed their domination of the game. Shot after shot, denied or shot wide, we deserved a few more goals but were a tad bit too clumsy. Valencia also scored a completely legit goal, where the ball was crossed to David Villa who was onside (but 3 other players weren’t), and he crossed it and it was tapped in. A robbed goal indeed.

The second half was more of the same, lots of effort but no goals scored. It was chance after chance, some accidentally shot wide and some denied by Cesar. Simao and Forlan missed easy one-on-ones and were frustrated successfully by Cesar. I’m not saying Cesar was lucky, in fact he was indeed Valencia’s best player, but Simao, Aguero, and Forlan’s bad finishing made the guy look like a god. At least the team never gave up trying, and the best chance that they allowed Valencia was the free kick from outside from the box with Villa shot too high.

Valencia did have some unfair calls, but to be honest, they didn’t pose much of a danger at all. If my hands got mauled by a pitbull, with my remaining fingers I could still count the number of times Valencia posed real danger. The only way to make up for bad ref decisions? Play better. If they really were a Champions League calibre team, they would have.

We were a bit lucky with the penalty but we were definitely the better team.

And now, my match report card:

Team effort: A. We were scaring Valencia almost the entire time, intercepting the ball and getting it to Forlan and Kun who kept on missing shot after shot. Even if the attack was having a bad day, and Kun was blatantly diving, the team showed much more heart than Valencia and the 1-0 is a reflection of our superiority.

Leo Franco: B+. He didn’t have too much work to do, but he saved our defense’s arse a few times with great saves from one-on-ones.

Defense: B. The entire defense had a great game and aside from two slips (goals that were ruled for offside), the challenges were well executed and most importantly, David Villa was denied good chances. Pernia handled Pablo Hernandez just fine and Pablo Ibanez and Alvaro Dominguez were solid in the back, although they did get some occasional help from Leo Franco. Ujfalusi did well to push up, Heitinga style, and although his crosses were a bit lacking, he at least was able to try hard to get the ball to the attack and also track back in time.

Midfield: B. Assuncao did fine staying a little bit towards the back and helping the defense out. Raul Garcia also tried his butt off to win balls and get some passes in. However, Simao didn’t have a good game, aside from some good crosses, that one-on-one miss was terrible and I was happy when he was subbed off because the dude looked frustrated. Maxi did just fine, and you could see him try hard to help out with some defense, and he also had a few shots on goal, denied by Cesar of course.

Attack: B-. Aguero should know much better than to miss clear shots and dive so often. If you see the highlights video, he had two easy goal opportunities that he normally wouldn’t miss: the shot that went over the bar, and the cross from Simao that he headed wide. As for the diving, the yellow card he received was deserved. He won a penalty when Cesar “tripped” him, but if anything, Cesar probably only literally laid a finger on his boot, not worth a penalty. Also, I wonder what they were laughing about after the penalty was scored.

Forlan scored the penalty that ended up being the game winner. He tried hard after that but some of the shots that he took were just ridiculous, especially that last one that you can see in the highlights vid. I think he was trying to hit a ballboy or something. At least he did his trademark Forlan Rocket that he does almost every game, denied by Cesar… again.

—

Where does this important victory leave us?

Two points away from throwing it all away, that’s where.

The next two games: Athletic Bilbao away, Almeria home.

I’m confident that we can win the next two games and that Atlético can stop being damn inconsistent for those games. I don’t like having to depend on other results to aid our goals, so everything is in Atlético’s hands. Win the next two games, and the Champions League will be guaranteed. Anything less, and we’ll have to hope that Villarreal and Valencia end up tying next week and losing their final games of the season. We’re still not completely there.

AUPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!