Atletico Madrid defeated Real Oviedo, with a final score of 2-0, in the 14th round, in a duel in which the “double” signed by Alexander Sorloth decided the direction of the three points at stake. The group led from the sidelines by Diego Simeone climbed to the podium in LaLiga, while the band from Asturias remains the “red lantern” in the hierarchy of the Spanish championship. Before the start of the game, Koke and Jan Oblak were awarded and applauded on the field by the “rojiblancos” supporters present at the “Estadio Metropolitano” for their recently marked performances.

Atletico Madrid and Real Oviedo faced off at the “Estadio Metropolitano” in the Spanish capital, in the 14th round of the current LaLiga season. This match was the first direct meeting between the two teams that took place at the new arena of the “rojiblancos” team. Before the start of this match, the students led by Diego Simeone were in fourth place, one point behind Villareal, respectively, three lengths behind Real Madrid, while the club coached by Luis Carrion were positioned on the last step of the general hierarchy, with nine points collected up to this point of the season.

The Madrid group had achieved six consecutive victories in all competitions before receiving the visit of the team from the north of the country, and, on their own ground, “los colchoneros” had managed to tie nine games in which they had won all three points at stake. In the opposing camp, the situation recorded in the most recent five official duels was not at all positive, because Real Oviedo, in this time interval, recorded three draws and two other defeats, the last victory of the team for which Santi Cazorla, among others, evolves, being recorded away, against Valencia, final score 2-1, at the end of September.

The Argentine coach of the hosts could not rely on the services of Robin Le Normand, respectively, Marcos Llorente, at the time of this game, but Jan Oblak, the Slovenian goalkeeper who was absent from the matches played in the company of Getafe and Inter Milan, returned between the “goals” of Atletico Madrid. In the last stage of the domestic championship, the club from the capital of Spain defeated a local rival, Getafe, away from “home”, thanks to an own goal, while Real Oviedo drew “white” at the “Nuevo Carlos Tartiere” stadium against another band from Madrid, Rayo Vallecano.

Atletico Madrid and the Asturian club have not faced each other in a head-to-head match since 2023, when the “rojiblancos” won away in a round of the “Copa Del Rey”, and the last three games between the two clubs have ended in favor of Diego Simeone’s team.

The last time Real Oviedo beat “los colchoneros” was in 1998, when “los azules” won 3-1. In view of the match against Barcelona next week, the South American coach of the hosts decided to rest some of the key players in his squad, with players such as Julian Alvarez, Jose Maria Gimenez and Matteo Ruggeri starting on the bench.

Before the kick-off of the match against Real Oviedo, Atletico Madrid captain Koke was applauded on the open stage by the “los colchoneros” supporters after marking 700 matches wearing the Spanish capital’s jersey. Also, upon his return to the “rojiblancos” ranks, Jan Oblak received, on the pitch, the “Zamora” trophy, the sixth of his career, which recognizes his performance as the best goalkeeper of the last season in LaLiga.

The first major chance to open the scoring belonged to Atletico Madrid, when Clement Lenglet’s through ball found Alexander Sorloth, and after he had managed to get past an opponent with his body, the Norwegian striker fired a powerful shot from the corner, but Aaron Escandell blocked the Nordic player’s shot. Later, the visitors’ veteran forward Salomon Rondon took action on his own, and after dribbling past an opponent, he decided to shoot from long range, but his attempt to score went wide of the home goal.

Conor Gallagher was passed deep by a teammate in the 11th minute of the game and, after passing Alhassane Rahim, the Englishman tried to send a cross into the goal for Antoine Griezmann, but the Asturian goalkeeper anticipated the move and caught the ball at the first attempt. A ball thrown by the French striker from Atletico Madrid to the near post was deflected back by the visitors’ defence, and Alexander Sorloth had the opportunity to score with a header, but his execution went over the crossbar of the Real Oviedo goal.

The opening of the score occurred at the end of the first quarter of an hour of this match, when the pass sent by Alex Baena was taken over by the left full-back of “los colchoneros”, David Hancko, and the cross sent by the Slovak footballer was pushed into the net of the goal defended by Aaron Escandell by Alexander Sorloth, who did not miss this time and reached the milestone of three goals scored this season in the Spanish championship. The same top from Norway took over a ball approximately 25 meters away from the goals of the club from Asturias and decided to shoot wide, but his attempt to reach the “double” did not catch the frame of the opponent’s goal.

However, in the 26th minute of the meeting at the “Estadio Metropolitano”, Alexander Sorloth managed to score his second goal, after a cross coming from Antoine Griezmann’s ice. In the first half, David Costas had cleared the ball by sliding, but the ball returned to the Villareal striker, who finished with a volleyed shot past Aaron Escandell. The first shot on target for the “rojiblancos” came about 10 minutes before the end of the first half, when Santi Cazorla threw the ball into the box and Federico Vinas headed it in from the run, but Jan Oblak had no trouble keeping the ball.

Later, Real Oviedo tried once more to score, but Colombatto’s first shot went well past Jan Oblak’s goal. With the return from the dressing rooms, Giuliano Simeone took Alex Baena’s place on the pitch, precisely to protect the “basic pieces” before the clash against Barcelona in LaLiga. A first attempt to reduce the gap on the scoreboard appeared in the 50th minute of the match, when Santi Cazorla’s cross was intercepted by Nacho Vidal, but the right-back’s shot went wide of the goal.

Nicolas Gonzalez tried to surprise Aaron Escandell when he came in from the side and shot hard, but his shot was squared in the center of the goal, so the Real Oviedo goalkeeper easily held the ball. Giuliano Simeone had a great opportunity to score the third goal for Atletico Madrid, but Aaron Escandell managed to block in time his shot. Conor Gallagher had a great strike close to the end of the game, when, after a rebound, he decided to shot with a lot of power, but the goalkeeper of the visiting team stopped the chance.

Thanks to this success, Atletico Madrid reached the milestone of 10 home victories on all “fronts” and accumulated 31 points in the current hierarchy of the Spanish championship, being one length behind the great local rival, Real Madrid, respectively, three points behind the leader, FC Barcelona.

On the other hand, the failure suffered in the Capital keeps the group from the north of the country on the last step, before the duel against Real Mallorca in the next round, at the “Nuevo Carlos Tartiere” stadium. The “Rojiblancos” will face FC Barcelona, ​​in Catalonia, in a round that is being played earlier than initially scheduled, as a result of the two clubs’ participation in the “Spanish Super Cup” in Saudi Arabia.