Villarreal played out a goalless draw against Atlético Madrid after an impressive performance in Madrid
Villarreal came away with a worthy draw against Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano (0-0). Brave and with a lot of hard work, Unai Emery’s side put in an impressive performance at the Wanda Metropolitano, in a game that was even for 90 minutes.
In the Spanish capital, Emery once more lined up with the same starting XI that got a good result last Wednesday against Deportivo Alavés (3-1): Asenjo, Mario Gaspar, R. Albiol, Pau, Estupiñán; Iborra, Trigueros, Parejo; Gerard, Moi Gómez and Alcácer.
In the opening moments, Villarreal went into the game without any worried, going head-to-head with Atlético Madrid. In their stadium, where Atleti haven’t lost in the last 36 games.
When Villarreal had the ball, Dani Parejo, Manu Trigueros, Moi Gómez and Gerard Moreno were impressive, building a lot of attacking actions in the opposition half. When it was time to defend, Emery’s men were solid at the back, and successfully dealt with every one of the home side’s pieces of attacking play. Together and well-organised, the Yellows didn’t give Atlético Madrid a single chance in the first half.
The only chance in the opening 45 minutes fell to Villarreal. Just before the 20th minute, Mario Gaspar fired off a powerful right-footed effort from the edge of the box, which forced Jan Oblak into making a great save at full stretch, and sending the ball out for a corner.
With half an hour on the clock, it was clear that equality was on show at the Wanda Metropolitano. This balance helped strengthen the Yellows, who were carrying out Emery’s plan just as he wanted. The closing moments of the first half were proof of that. Complete dominance by the Yellows, who showed their competitive capacity.
The second half once more had a good chance for the Submarine. An omnipresent Mario Gaspar received a through ball from Gerard in space, launching off a powerful shot which Oblak deflected.
From the 60th minute onwards, Atlético Madrid stepped forward and took a step forward looking for a goal. Far from collapsing under pressure, Villarreal continued to defend convincingly, waiting for their moment to surprise the team from Madrid.
As the game was reaching its end, Emery looked to the bench, bringing on Samu Chukwueze and Take Kubo to try and give more speed to Villarreal’s attack. In the 89th minute, Gerard got on the end of a good Pervis Estupinán cross, but his volley went just wide.
There was nothing between the two teams and that was finally reflected on the scoreboard at the end of the game (0-0). Villarreal got a worthy point against Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Lineups:
Atlético Madrid: Oblak; Trippier, Savic, Felipe, Lodi; Correa (Llorente, m. 70), Koke (Carrasco, m. 70), Thomas, Saúl; Joao Félix (Herrera, m. 75), Luis Suárez (Costa, m. 70).
Villarreal CF: S. Asenjo; Mario Gaspar, R. Albiol, Pau, Estupiñán; Iborra, Trigueros (Take, m. 85), Parejo; Gerard, Moi Gómez, Alcácer (Chukwueze, m. 71).
Referee: Hernández Hernández. Booked: Lodi (Atlético Madrid); Albiol, Iborra (Villarreal).
Matchday information: Game between Atlético Madrid and Villarreal CF, corresponding to Matchday 5 of LaLiga at the Wanda Metropolitano.
