It turned out that what happened on Saturday in Wanda was a mirage, that those two sparks of Correa and Oblak's saving interventions were simply that, extraordinary details to hide the collective lacks of this Athletic, anchored in mediocrity and in a worrying trend, a single victory in the last five LaLiga matches. In Vitoria, a traditionally friendly visit, he did not pass the draw and cannot argue that he deserved to do so. He scored on an isolated play and settled for it. Conservatism punished by Alavés so that Mendizorroza remains a fort. [Narration and statistics]

Morata, who scored for the third consecutive game, was almost the only positive note that brought the duel for Atlético. Perhaps also Héctor Herrera , the only one of the unusual who convinced his performance, something that Llorente cannot say, nor of course Diego Costa . But beyond the proper names, Atlético left in Mendizorroza the feeling of being a team with scarce offensive resources, when the cache of its squad says the exact opposite. A concern that grows game by game, except for the one that faced Athletic, and that determines the immediate future of the mattress set.

Morata and Lucas Pérez , both on a roll, put the proper name of a match that went from less to more. The closest thing to a goal chance that was in the first part was a substitute shot from the front of Joselu that only served to verify that, in effect, Atlético played with goalkeeper. The Alavés also did it, but there was no way to contrast this information. Pacheco went to the locker room with unpolluted gloves, as if they had just left the factory, reflecting the complete offensive inoperance of Simeone's.

In a way, the ostentatious yawns of Diego Costa during the warming had served as a 'spoiler' of what was going to happen. What was not clear is whether they were advancing what was going to be the game in general or the performance of the Spanish-Brazilian in particular, a meeting more a soul in pain that does not find the exit to the football pit in which it is mired. For 70 minutes, those who were in the field, just had (and lose) fights with Laguardia and complain to the referee about anything without finding a rehabilitation that never comes.

Lucas Pérez's blow

The most symbolic summary of Costa's game was that Atlético's goal came seconds after Simeone sent him to the bench, as if his presence was an insurmountable obstacle to the success of his team. The combination between Morata , Koke (substitute for '19') and Correa allowed Simeone to uncork a game that had become very ugly.

Already before it would have slowed the dominion to the points of the Alavés, especially with diagonal balls towards the race of the lateral ones that did damage to the local defense. Also with the presence of Thomas in the center of the field, replacing after the break a gray and reckless Llorente on the return to the place where he has been happier as a footballer.

The duel, however, remained even until Morata managed to break the albiazul defense 20 minutes from the end. He had nothing to lose the Alavés, so he took risks against an Atlético who seemed to settle for Morata's goal. Pacheco denied the double to Madrid in a hand in hand and from there disappeared Atlético, a resignation that Lucas Pérez took advantage of to chisel the masterpiece that established the final draw on the scoreboard.

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