Stumbling and Tieing Again
By: Al | January 26th, 2009
To all you Liga supporters: how do you feel about your team’s result this weekend? Happy? Disgusted? Well, us Atlético folk have to thank a few of your teams for stumbling and keeping that Champions League spot (or spots) nice and close.
Of course I didn’t mean that, but it seems that the misfortune of other teams is what is keeping us in this Champions League race. We are “advancing without winning” as Marca puts it. It’s actually kind of funny how Atlético’s disastrous January is actually not disastrous on paper, considering that we’ve fallen only 3 spots since the return from the holiday break. The competition for the two spots not occupied by Barca and Real is tighter than [insert perverted analogy here], yet Atlético just can’t help but play like dog turd.
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MÁLAGA 1 – ATLÉTICO 1
1.- Atlético Madrid: Leo Franco; Perea, Heitinga (Pablo, m. 83), Ujfalusi, Antonio López; Assunçao (Maniche, m. 71), Raúl García, Simao, Sinama (Maxi, m. 46), Forlán y Agüero.
Highlights:
1-0 Apono
1-1 Heitinga
I’ll be honest. Atlético didn’t play TOO bad, in fact I’d say that aside from Málaga’s good possession and golazo, Atleti showed a big improvement. They at least showed that they have good resilience, with a solid goal by Heitinga keeping us from losing points. Malaga is also no slouch of a team, they are definitely the surprise package of La Liga and are tied with us on points, so to draw at their stadium isn’t anything to be ashamed of.
Malaga’s best chances were in the first half, and ours in the second half. The best chance for our team was one of those dreaded clusterf*cks where 3-4 of our players were feet away from the box and all they had to do was secure it in the net. Of course, that didn’t go too well and Simao was denied by the keeper and it pretty much killed our mood after that. Maniche also threw some good chances away, and shot that ball into the sky on one great scoring occasion, and also got another yellow card and is suspended for picking up his 5th of the season alongside Ujfalusi. Overall, Atleti proved that they do indeed have an offense.
Improvement is worthless unless you can score, and that’s what we’re kinda struggling with (just a little, tisk tisk). Aguirre, Mr. Positive (what manager doesn’t act positive when he’s under pressure?), says that the team restored a bit of its essence and is ready to move forward. The team at least proved that they in fact, don’t suck as much as they did the rest of this month and that they can squeeze out some wins before real business resumes on February 22, when we visit Sevilla and both the fixtures from hell and the Champions League are back.
We’re currently in 6th and 4th place is only two points away, with the spot currently being occupied by Valencia, who has choked in the past two matches. Sevilla is only 6 points away, but they are definitely proving that they’ll have a good shot of claiming that 3rd place spot. That leaves Villarreal, Valencia, and maybe Deportivo as the direct competition for the remaining spot. Fun.
The fixtures until the dreaded visit to Andalusia:
Atlético – Valladolid
Recreativo – Atlético
Atlético – Getafe
These fixtures shouldn’t be a problem for a team like Atlético. This month indeed felt like a redemption month, in which we played match after match hoping that the next one would be better. We’re not in a crisis so therefore theres no need for Atlético fans to start moping, that’s a job for other certain teams. In a month’s time, we should be in tip top shape. Easier said than done.
Category: Review
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