A bad surprise came for Atletico Madrid against UD Levante in Wednesday night’s make-up game. The bottom team deservedly took all three points from a very weak Rojiblancos side.
After the spectacular 4-3 win over Getafe, Atleti coach Diego Simeone changed his latest starting eleven in two positions: De Paul started for Suarez, with Correa moving into the double striker alongside Matheus Cunha. In addition, Gimenez replaced Felipe, who was suspended for a red card. Levante coach Alessio Lisci made four changes from the 4-2 defeat to Real Betis: Rober, Pepelu, Bardhi and Roger replaced Ruben Vezo, Malsa, Morales and Dani Gomez.
In fifth place, Atletico Madrid are fighting for the Champions League, with UD Levante holding the red lantern. But at the Wanda Metropolitano, it was the bottom team that dominated the ball and the opponent from the start. The Rojiblancos did not find their way into the game at all and were usually one step too late. The Madrilenians were lucky twice in the first half: In the 22nd minute, Hector Herrera ran alone towards Oblak after a bad sticking error by Gimenez, but the Atleti keeper was victorious in the one-on-one thanks to a strong save. And seconds before the break, de Paul, who had already been cautioned, committed a foul on Pepelu, but avoided what was supposed to be a traffic card.
Melero scores – Oblak prevents a larger arrears
In the second half it got even worse for Atletico. After a great pass from Pepelu, Melero escaped his opponent and scored with a right-footed shot into the short corner to give Levante the lead (54th). The brave Oblak was still on the ball, but could not prevent the impact. Five minutes later, Atletico hoped to equalise when Kondogbia’s shot was blocked with his hand in the penalty area (59). But the penalty whistle, which should have been correct, was cancelled by the VAR because of a previous offside position.
Levante remained better and more dangerous. In the 65th minute, Malsa, who had just come on as a substitute, played a great pass to de Frutos. The attacker took off from the right side of the penalty area and forced Oblak to make another brilliant save. Shortly afterwards, Simeone reacted by sending on Suarez and Joao Felix, two of his top attacking players.
And indeed, the Rojiblancos took more and more command of the game. However, the clear offensive actions were still missing, despite increasing pressure, the Levante defence still allowed almost nothing. And also in the final phase, Atletico simply could not find a gap – without plan and ideas, the attacks were carried out, for a long time, little happened at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Spectacle in stoppage time: overhead kick and crossbar hit
The seven-minute injury time was a real spectacle. After five minutes, Correa scored with a great overhead kick to make it 1-1, but the goal did not count because Gimenez had fouled his opponent. Only a few seconds later, Malsa almost took a shot from the centre circle. The ball went over the stunned Oblak and into the Madrid goal, but only hit the crossbar (90.+6). The two most spectacular scenes of the game did nothing to change the surprising and deserved defeat of Atletico against the last team in the league.
After the revelation, Atletico’s next game is at CA Osasuna next Saturday (16.15), while Levante are at Celta Vigo on Monday (21.00).
