Match report: hard-fought and much-needed Champions League win | OneFootball

Hard-fought victory for Atlético de Madrid in the Champions League against a Royale Union Saint-Gilloise that put up a great fight at the Metropolitano, but ended with a red-and-white triumph and three golden points, adorned with nerves and a lot of tension in the stands.

Union Saint-Gilloise came out very focused on achieving a positive result from their visit to Madrid. The start of the match already warned that there would be no rout and the game would be one of suffering. This was without counting on friendly fire, like Ruggeri's pass to Oblak, which bounced over his foot and could have resulted in an own goal, which would have left us stunned in the 8th minute. It remained just a scare.

But aside from that anecdotal play, the truth is that the Belgians caused a lot of damage on the flanks and with very dangerous passes towards Oblak's goal.

And undoubtedly the worst news of the entire match came in the 23rd minute, with Le Normand's injury after a clash with Zorgane. A blow that forced him to leave the field (with Josema Jiménez coming on), but the hyperextension, which was known right after the match, doesn't look good.

Atleti continued to suffer on the counter, and although there was red-and-white possession, there were no clear chances until Giuliano Simeone once again became the key game-changer. Minute 39, pass from Barrios, with a run from Giuliano, who outpaces his marker, Sykes can't catch him and he draws strength only he knows how to muster, to maintain balance, just enough to deliver the assist to Julián Alvarez.

The pass to the spider isn't clean, with the ball bouncing, but with the quality of the Argentine star, he manages to connect a sensational shot, resulting in a one-nil. A goal shared between Giuliano's spirit and drive and the spider's finishing quality.

From there until the end of the first half, the game calmed down, as did Atleti, and we almost scored the second goal. In fact, the goal went up on the scoreboard, but Griezmann's shot, after the Belgian goalkeeper's rebound (from a shot by Nahuel Molina from the edge), was disallowed for offside by Álex Baena at the start of the play.

Goals, nerves, and final victory

In the second half, Atleti's opportunities came, seeking the second goal, like Giuliano's shot that went wide in the 49th minute, or a shot from the edge by Ruggeri (three minutes later) that the defense cleared for a corner.

And with an hour of play already completed, Cholo Simeone tried to change the dynamics of the match with substitutions, with Baena, Koke, and Griezmann leaving the field for Sorloth, Almada, and Gallagher.

And Sorloth showed from the first minute that he was on fire and would be key in the course of events in the match. Starting with a penalty not awarded to the Norwegian forward in the 63rd minute. Sorloth was heading down the right towards goal, but Burgess lunged onto the grass and didn't get the ball, bringing down the Norwegian as he went past him. VAR didn't intervene, and the play ended in a simple corner.

Just before Atleti's second goal, Union St-Gilloise had their chance to equalize, after several headed extensions, David shot very close to Oblak's goal.

But the Belgians didn't take their chance, and Atleti did, after a run from Sorloth, who cut and shot, but Sykes blocked it, with Gallagher taking advantage of the rebound, placing it in the top corner. A goal in the 72nd minute, which in theory was the one to bring calm.

A calm that would be an illusion. The fleeting two-goal advantage for Atleti slipped away in the 80th minute, leaving plenty of time for the Belgians to try to score their second. Sykes headed in at the far post, after a cross from a free kick on the left wing. Ruggeri couldn't do anything against the height of the Belgian player. And even before that, a mistake by Giménez (minutes earlier) was also a clear scoring opportunity for Union, which made it clear that the Belgian champion wasn't falling apart.

From there until the end, Belgian siege in search of the equalizer and Atleti counterattacks. The Belgians' chances left us with cold blood and Atleti's counterattacks gave us the feeling of being able to seal the victory.

The spider couldn't seal the victory in the 88th minute, in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, after anticipating Sykes, leaving Julián alone against Scherpen, who was successful in clearing after the Argentine's shot. Where it was sealed was in a counterattack between Almada and Sorloth in the 96th minute. The Norwegian didn't want to kill the game in the corner, but instead sought from the left wing the pass to Almada, to try to score the third goal. He couldn't score due to a great intervention by the goalkeeper, but Marcos Llorente took advantage of the rebound, arriving like a plane from the right, to score his goal, after having entered the field just a few minutes earlier.

Great victory, and an important one. Today (apart from Le Normand's injury), Atleti achieved what they needed, to seek with more tranquility, a good result in the next European match (Inter at home). Before that, the league and Levante will come.

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