For the first time in over a decade, Atléti tasted defeat within their opening two games of a league season, soundly beaten by Villarreal last time out, and confidence looked fragile as an intense Valencia outfit swarmed all over them in a high-tempo first half. For all of their dominance, Los Che created precious little, perhaps highlighting the reason they fought so hard to bring Edinson Cavani to the club, with the Uruguayan watching on from the stands.
VAR would be the main character in an enthralling first half, as Yunus Musah saw his long-range rocket, which beat Jan Oblak at the near post, ruled out for a foul in the build up. Shortly before the break it would come to the hosts’ aid however, rescinding Thierry Correia’s red card after he hauled down Álvaro Morata as the Spaniard charged through on goal. The Atléti centre-forward had the best chance of the half deep into stoppage time, as sloppy Valencia defending allowed João Félix to feed his strike partner, but his low effort was brilliantly saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Gennaro Gattuso’s men understandably struggled to maintain the same level of intensity after the interval. The visitors were still struggling though, so introduced French duo Thomas Lemar and Antoine Griezmann off the bench and, almost immediately, the pair combined to give Atléti the lead. Lemar played his compatriot into space on the right, and his left-footed effort deceived the goalkeeper thanks to a wicked deflection off Valencia captain Carlos Soler.
With Simeone’s men a goal ahead, it seemed inevitable that the visitors would see out a typically hard-fought victory. Even at this early stage, tonight marked an important win for Atléti as they look to establish themselves as title challengers to Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcos Llorente (Atlético Madrid)
