Seattle Sounders 1-3 Atlético Madrid: Sounders’ fate hangs in the balance after Atléti defeat | OneFootball

Atlético Madrid bounced back from their 4-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain with a big win against a Seattle Sounders side playing on home turf.

Pablo Barrios gave los Colchoneros the lead in the 11th minute with a lovely, curled finish off the crossbar, and it was doubled just after halftime when substitute Axel Witsel headed home from close range.

It didn’t take long for the Sounders to halve the deficit, with a deflection aiding Albert Rusnák’s snapshot following a cross, but Atléti restored their two-goal advantage just as quickly, as Barrios secured a brace for himself.

The result means Atlético Madrid’s chances of qualifying for the round of 16 at the Club World Cup are high, while Seattle Sounders’ fate hangs in the balance.

As it happened

After their humbling against PSG, Atlético Madrid needed a big statement, and there was no better side to make it against than a Seattle Sounders side who also lost their first game against Botafogo.

It was no surprise then that they exploded out of the blocks. In truth, they could – and maybe should – have scored with any of their first five shots in the opening 10 minutes, particularly from an Alexander Sørloth Header sent straight down the throat of Stefan Frei and later a guilt-edged miss of the target courtesy of Julián Álvarez, no more than seven yards from goal.

Alas, they couldn’t, so the 11th minute would have to do. When the goal did come, it was at the end of a break; Guiliano Simeone had been sent galloping into acres of space down the right, before he pulled the ball back to Barrios on the edge of the area. Without wasting time taking a touch, he wrapped an effort with venom and swerve off the crossbar and over the line. Frei was helpless to stop it, and Atléti had the lead they both needed and deserved.

Los Colchoneros struggled to replicate dominance of that scale throughout the rest of the half, but they did create more golden chances from which they ultimately failed to convert. Sørloth was the culprit twice, first volleying over the crossbar from close quarters in the 16th minute and then seeing a shot even closer to the goal smothered by Frei.

They might’ve had a penalty, too, with Simeone felled after a tangle of legs with Reed Baker-Whiting, but referee Yael Falcón Peréz concluded the contact was just outside the box after a lengthy check. It’s the second game in a row in which Diego Simeone’s side have felt the wrath of VAR after having a goal chalked off in their previous outing against PSG.

For their part, the Sounders were largely limited to potshots from outside the area besides one big chance squandered by Danny Musovski, who was denied from close range by Jan Oblak.

Truthfully, it only felt a matter of time until Atléti doubled their lead, and only two minutes into the second half, they did exactly that. It could’ve been a thing of beauty: Marcos Llorente sized up a bouncing ball 25 yards from goal and hammered it with the sweetest of techniques. However, Frei was able to tip the shot onto the crossbar, and from the rebound Maxime Le Normand nodded the ball across the six-yard box to Witsel, who headed home almost on the line. Not quite a beauty, but they all count.

Two to the good, they should’ve been home and dry, but on 50 minutes they allowed Seattle back into the game. Youngster Obed Vargas whipped a teasing cross into the area for Musovski, who headed back into the area for Rusnák to fire a potshot goalwards. The effort took the smallest of nicks off Llorente, just enough to deceive Oblak and cast a shadow of doubt.

Like most shadows, though, Atléti put it behind them very quickly. Not five minutes after conceding, they scored again, and it couldn’t have been easier. Llorente sent a long throw into the box, and Jon Bell’s attempted cleared header fell perfectly to Barrios to curl home his second of the game under little pressure. It was a case of one step forward, two steps back for the Sounders.

Things could’ve gone from bad to worse on the hour mark, when Álvarez crashed a volley onto the crossbar from outside the area, and on the flip side of that coin, the Sounders almost scored their second of the night when substitute Jesús Fereira had a goal quickly ruled out for offside. Besides those two incidents, though, chances were few and far between in the closing stages, as Simeone’s men held out for an important three points.

While Atlético Madrid’s journey at the Club World Cup is very much alive, Seattle Sounders’ now hangs in the balance: they have to hope PSG and Botafogo don’t draw in their game shortly afterwards, or their tournament on home soil will come to an abrupt end, and even then, a clash with the European champions awaits. It’s going to be quite the mountain for Brian Schmetzer’s side to climb.

The lineups

ATM: Oblak; Llorente, Le Normand, Giménez, Galán; De Paul, Koke, Barrios, Simeone; Sǿrloth. Álvarez