Oh Happy Day!?

By: Al | October 26th, 2008

Villarreal 4 – Atlético Madrid 4

What a roller coaster of a match. When it seemed like the match was ours, they shot four past us. When it seemed like the match was theirs, we scored two goals to level things up and end this game even. A big improvement from the match earlier this year in which they schooled us 3-0.

In a match of silly fouls, the sending off of Mr. Webcam (here to the left), and costly mistakes, ATM does it again with 10 men and no Sergio Aguero to save our butts (Simao gladly filled in that role).

We were against a true powerhouse. When we let our guard down, they scored effortlessly. The thought of defeating Villarreal was almost too good to be true, and their 4-2 comeback killed many Atlético spirits. They stomped all over us in most of the second half.

Were we a bit lucky? Maybe, but so were they. In the end, everyone was a winner (not really). Take your point and go home happy, fellas!

This was what was going on in my head after Raul Garcia’s final equalizer:

I don’t see how a draw can be considered so amazing! I said this about the Liverpool match, but coming back from the dead is always a reason to celebrate. Oh happy day, indeed.

Lineups:

Villarreal: D. Lopez – J. Venta, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila – Cazorla, Bruno, Senna, Pires – Rossi, Llorente

Atlético: Leo Franco – Pernia, Dominguez, Heitinga, Seitaridis – Simao, Maniche, Assuncao, Wanker Banega – Forlan, Maxi

Notice that Aguero didn’t play. Wise move resting him for the next few matches, as we need to cement some points.

A warm welcome to youngster Domínguez who filled in Ujfalusi’s center-back shoes for both this match and the Liverpool match. He didn’t do too bad, except obviously during the four goals they scored on us.

The first goal was a cracker by Simao scored at the 1:30 mark. From an improbable angle, he blasted the ball into the top left corner and it hit the crossbar and bounced in. Enough to shock Villarreal, but not enough to win the game just yet, as it had barely started.

Poor Giuseppe Rossi was denied a penalty after our first goal, after he was brought down in the box by Johnny Heitinga. The quiet stadium then exploded into anger and jeers until Forlan scored a simple goal (and surprisingly celebrated it) which riled up the Villarreal supporters even more.

A big “F you” goes to Wanker Banega for the unnecessary red that left us with the struggle of playing with 10 men for a majority of the match. His tackle was an assault with both of his legs that resembles a bad Pippo Inzaghi dive, but aimed at the other player. He will be forgiven and a “bawww forgive me” statement will be soon to follow, but one must wonder if some slight things could’ve been different if he remained and possibly have affected the outcome of the match.

It was all fun and games until Marcos Senna blasted the ball into Leo Franco’s grasp and then it flew into the goal. The power that Senna has is phenomenal, and Argentine Quentin Tarantino should’ve been a little more awake for that, but mistakes happen.

Llorente scored a simple goal that leveled the match at 2-2 and started to anger Atletico. A few minutes later, Rossi provided a nice cross to three (!) unmarked Villarreal players, and it was Gonzalo Rodriguez that did the honors in slotting the ball in. At this point, Atletico was thinking “oh no” and Aguirre was writing a sad poem on his clipboard. Then Rossi evaded a defender and Leo Franco and slipped in Villarreal’s fourth.

Our third goal was a bit lucky, as it was a one-on-one by Simao that took little effort to slot in. Miguel De las Cuevas was brought into the match and everyone was in shock that Aguero wouldn’t be playing in the match. Thankfully, Raúl García headed in the final goal after a set piece kick from Simao. He was covering his face in disbelief, as was the rest of the Atlético Madrid world.

Simao is man of the match again. Woo hoo!

Video highlights here

We are so lucky for this draw, and I’m glad that my pessimistic prediction of 4-1 to Villarreal was wrong. Our team was a bit unfortunate for the slacking of the defense, and a win for our team wasn’t impossible.

“Crazy” isn’t enough to describe this match. The control of the match between both teams switched on and off, and the feelings of supporters of both teams hit highs and lows. Villarreal “lost” two points, and we barely won our point.

I can’t complain though.

We face Orihuela CF in the Copa Del Rey this Wednesday. I know next to nothing about this team, as I need to brush up on my Segunda Division B Group 3. Don’t we all?

Aupa Atleti!