Yesterday at San Mamés was an important date for Atlético de Madrid , especially for Marcos Llorente , the player from Madrid went from less to more. Diego Pablo Simeone placed him on the right wing, to the detriment of Nahuel Molina Lucero and it is true that the first minutes of the Madrid player were rather discreet. The Madrid team attacked little on their wing, and when they did, the player was not very successful.
But one thing is certain: Nico Williams struggled to beat him on several occasions, Marcos Llorente did not score this time, but he was very alert. Nico Williams is always a difficult player to defend, and the Madrid native worked hard to stop him, with the help of Robin Le Normand , the two who know him best. At the end of the day, Marcos Llorente won the duel and Atlético de Madrid won the match, which is undoubtedly the most important thing.
According to ATLETICO STATS data, the Navarrese player lost 17 balls, one of his highest figures in recent games, and that is due to the pressure from Marcos Llorente . He did not shoot on goal even once, nor between the three posts, except for the disallowed goal, which shows the discomfort he experienced. Atlético was better and created more chances than Athletic , although one of the keys was completely nullifying Williams ' talent.
He could not get past the Colchonera defense
As for dribbling, only one of eight attempts by the red-and-white defenders was successful, not just by Marcos Llorente . Neither was there more than one attempt by Reinildo Mandava , Robin Le Normand , or José María Giménez . Recovering defensive reliability was one of Diego Pablo Simeone 's obsessions during this preseason.
He only won four out of seventeen matches, which is striking. It was not his night in terms of energy, and Athletic Club Bilbao noticed it. As for Marcos Llorente , as we said, he went from less to more, since it was difficult for him to generate play on the wing for Atlético de Madrid . Conor Gallagher 's support was fundamental for Antoine Griezmann 's advances, and another who was somewhat disconnected was Julián Álvarez .
An Angel that saves Atlético
The Spider suffered under the sticky marking of Dani Vivian, so the teams cancelled each other out and both had difficulties. The entrance of Alexander Sorloth gave Atlético de Madrid more air, he created two clear chances and assisted Ángel Correa . A Correa who once again scored another goal from the bench and is now the fifth player with the most goals in the history of LaLiga .
His goal gives Atlético de Madrid a key victory to stay in the race for the league title. FC Barcelona is still four points ahead of the red-and-white team.