Baena takes Atlético out of a nap and gives them the victory against Espanyol

Atlético is already looking like a big team. The rojiblancos have forgotten about Pupas, as Manolo González recalled in the preview, and are an entity that exercises authority both in the offices and on the pitch. Rivals, each time, rebel less and less. They wait for him, because they fear him, and because Simeone seems to have already forgotten about Unocerismo, the low block and playing purely on the counter. Or not, because with that result Barcelona won. [Narrative and statistics, 0-1]

The desire of both teams was opposite to their dynamics. After four consecutive victories, the red and whites were looking for the fifth in a row in this series of matches every three days for two weeks. Hence the four changes in the starting eleven. While the parakeets were looking for their first victory in the last four games. Different needs for different styles. Baena wanted the first and against his quality little can be done.

At the RCD Stadium the arrangements were clear from the start. Ball down and patience on the part of the rojiblancos and balls to Roberto and second plays on the part of the parakeets. You can win like this, the old Premier League made an art of it, but in today's football many chances are usually lost if the ball flies over midfield. Like the greats too, Simeone's men waited for the duel to fall under its own weight.

And they almost found the first in an isolated play that Giuliano missed against Fortuño. But there are also scares like the corner that Bryan took quickly and that ended in a cross that Roberto missed with a header almost in a small area or Cabrera's shot that crashed into Oblak's crossbar. The chances, however, were mainly red and white. David wasted a couple of them too and Kang-In had a couple of shots that just missed.

Simeone wanted to catch the second half before the nap got complicated. He brought in Grimaldo for the youth player Dani Martínez and Julián for a Lookman who is not yet fully found. A corner from the winger sailed through the small area without anyone putting the ball in. Warning for sailors with the free hits of the former Leverkusen player. The third red-and-white change was due to the logical precaution required by Barrios, one of the best red-and-white players, but also one of the most fragile. Llorente came in for the youth player, who burst Fortuño's crossbar almost with the first ball he touched.

Baena never sleeps

The minutes passed and with them the emergencies and precipitations. Simeone exhausted the changes before the 70th minute, but the goal did not come. Also the big ones choke on the low blocks and the little ones play with those nerves to risk everything in the last minutes of the duel. In fact, the parakeets matched the red and whites in intensity and their defensive discipline was still intact.