Atlético Madrid came back down to earth with a bump late on Sunday afternoon: three days after their resounding victory over Barcelona in the Copa, the Rojiblancos suffered a completely unexpected defeat at the hands of city rivals Rayo.
Is Atlético Madrid at the peak of its powers this season? That was certainly the impression given last Thursday. Thanks to an excellent first half, the Rojiblancos completely surprised FC Barcelona with a 4-0 victory in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. The Catalans had not been 4-0 down after just 45 minutes for 73 years.
But what Atletico offered this Sunday afternoon was also completely surprising. The top team embarrassed themselves against the 18th-placed team and deservedly lost 3-0. The chain of errors certainly began with coach Diego Simeone’s lineup, who reacted to the Copa highlight by making nine (!) changes to his starting eleven.
Atletico looked haphazard in attack and unusually vulnerable in defense throughout the 90 minutes. After just 90 seconds, the visitors’ penalty area was already under intense pressure. Significantly, Atleti’s best chance of the first 45 minutes fell to Rayo defender Mendy, who rattled the ball against his own crossbar (11′).
Within five minutes, the underdogs laid the foundation for victory in the first half: Ratiu was allowed to push too easily into the penalty area, where Fran Perez scored the deserved lead for a courageous performance (40′). Shortly afterwards, Lenglet made a capital mistake, Rayo came down the right again, and Oscar finished coolly (45′).
Now Bruges awaits
Atletico went into the break without a single shot on goal. Simeone had to react after the break and made five substitutions between the 56th and 63rd minutes. But even the regulars seemed largely uninspired. Rayo even managed to score another goal: Alvaro calmly crossed to Mendy, who was moving up the field, and he pushed the ball over the line at the far post to make it 3-0 (76′).
Rayo celebrated the big points exuberantly after the final whistle, while Atletico understandably had long faces. League leaders and city rivals Real are now 15 (!) points ahead of Simeone’s team, who had undoubtedly gambled badly. They need to tighten up quickly: on Wednesday, the Champions League play-offs await at Club Brugge.