Report: big win over Girona to end the year | OneFootball

Clear victory for Atleti in Girona to close out 2025, in a very good match from Cholo Simeone’s pupils, showing sharpness in attack but also in defense, to consolidate their place in the standings and with the points needed to keep fighting for the top of La Liga.

Atleti was far superior to Girona during the first half, denying clear chances for the home side (except for one clear opportunity that Girona had). Atleti was very solid, scoring two goals, but it could easily have been several more.

The team came out very focused, pressing and sending long balls forward in attack, looking for a very active Sorloth. This pressing not only caused turnovers in Girona’s build-up play, but also led to counterattacks with a lot of ground covered in transition, with plenty of space, resulting in clear chances that ended with shots from outside the box by Barrios and Nico González, which were the prelude to Atleti’s first great goal.

That goal came in the 13th minute, in one of those moments that will go down in Atleti’s history, both for who scored it and the way it was scored.

With Girona pinned back, a cross came in that the home team failed to clear properly, the ball bouncing at the edge of the area for Koke, who struck it so well that it flew into the top corner, leaving the Catalan goalkeeper with no chance, making this first goal one of the most memorable in the career of Koke, who is a living (and active) legend of Atlético de Madrid (it was the captain’s 50th goal for the team).

The bad news for Atleti came in the form of an injury to Nico González. Already in the 18th minute, he couldn’t show his top speed to take advantage of a counter that could have meant Atleti’s second, but eight minutes later he suffered a muscle pull and had to be replaced by Conor Gallagher.

Before that, in the 22nd minute, we witnessed Girona’s only big chance, which really tested the Slovenian goalkeeper, who made a superb save. After a corner, there was a play that should have been disallowed for a foul (dangerous play) on Koke, which wasn’t called. Eventually, the ball ended up at Witsel’s feet, who shot powerfully, but the keeper pulled off a fabulous save, practically taking the ball out from inside the goal. A save that was as good as a goal in our favor.

A goal in our favor would come in the 37th minute, thanks to a shot from Gallagher, who benefited from a deflection that made it impossible to stop Atleti’s goal. Before this chance, Gallagher couldn’t score after a pass from Sorloth set him up to finish easily, but he didn’t position his body well and sent it over. On his second chance, he did manage to extend the lead.

More goals could have come for Atleti, with chances in the final stretch of the first half, with dangerous shots from Gallagher and Giuliano, who could well have made it three, right before the referee blew for halftime.

SECOND HALF WITH GIRONA PRESSURE, BUT A CONVINCING ATLETI WIN

The start of the second half continued as an extension of the first, with clear chances for the rojiblancos, through Sorloth (a very good header after a cross from Ruggeri) and Koke (who tried to curl it into the corner after a great pass from “the spider”).

But Girona sounded the charge and ended up pinning Atleti back. In that context, Girona had a great chance in the 72nd minute, which Oblak saved against Alex Moreno, with help from Pubill, who disrupted the Girona striker just enough to prevent a good finish.

This situation led to multiple changes from Cholo Simeone, but it didn’t stop the home side’s pressure, who desperately sought the goal that would get them back into the match, but without creating real danger, while Atleti lived off counterattacks that also didn’t result in real danger to get the third and seal the win.

Girona kept trying, but there was nothing they could do to prevent another away win for Atleti; in fact, the last few minutes were dominated by the visitors, culminating with Atleti’s third goal, beautifully finished by Griezmann.

Atleti keeps their swords raised high in the fight for La Liga.

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