Match report, Celta raid the Metropolitano | OneFootball

Atlético de Madrid were unable to return to La Liga with a win against Celta, after the blow of losing in London and missing out on the Champions League final. Celta took advantage of the situation, against an Atleti side that tried, but did not have the intensity of a team with a lot still at stake in these final matches.

Celta, on the other hand, picked up three golden points to keep chasing fifth place, which brings Champions League qualification, and they have all but secured their place in Europe for the second year in a row.

The big negative note aside from the result was Josema Giménez’s injury almost as soon as the match began, after a collision with Borja Iglesias, forcing him to be replaced by Le Normand.

Atleti played better, with a first half in which Lookman hit the crossbar in the 11th minute, just after a great chance for Griezmann, who could have scored from a rebound a couple of minutes earlier. That without counting the move in which Lookman dribbled inside the box and a Celta defender blocked it with his hand (but it was not punished with a penalty because his hand was resting on the ground).

Those chances were repeated around the half-hour mark, with openings for both teams, Llorente and Borja Iglesias as the main men, but without the luck Borja Iglesias did have in the second half.

One away chance, one goal, and defeat followed

Atleti’s clearest scoring chances came in the second half, but the performance of Celta’s goalkeeper was outstanding and crucial to the Galicians’ eventual win.

Above all, Radu’s big moment came in the 52nd minute, when a perfect Atleti passing move came close to ending in the first goal of the match. Koke crossed and found an excellent Alex Baena (who showed great clarity of thought throughout the game), the Almería-born player set up Sørloth, and the Norwegian produced a backheel finish that looked set to be one of the goals of the season, but Radu, with a superb save, denied the Metropolitano its moment of joy.

Baena was very lively and showed great vision, and in the 56th minute he sent in a cross from the right wing to Lookman, arriving at the far post, and he came close to scoring as it went just wide of Radu’s goal.

The one who did score was Borja Iglesias in the 61st minute, when after Koke lost the ball in midfield, Celta launched a quick counterattack, Swedberg slipped a pass into the middle of the box, and Borja Iglesias delicately lifted the ball over Oblak, who could do nothing. A classy goal.

With Kubo on the pitch, Atleti had clear shooting chances, with Kubo himself and Sørloth involved, and they could have scored, but they lacked the fortune needed to equalize in a match that also did not carry much tension due to the need for points, in a league campaign where we already have everything wrapped up.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.