Luis Núñez-Villavearán

Updated Saturday, February 17, 2024-15:56

El

Cholo

is a man of hidden messages, normally. When it comes to calendar issues, his complaints have been bitter and public. Judging by the

Atlético

he saw against

Las Palmas

, it cannot be said that the Argentine was not partially right. The team, for the first time with a week of rest after the return of the Super Cup, was a cyclone. In 20 minutes he was already winning by two goals and finished the game with four, which could have been more if

Correa

had been sharper. [Narrative and Statistics, 4-0]

Thinking of Milan, or perhaps of strengthening his physical arguments,

Simeone

brought out eleven warriors to drown Las Palmas. The high pressure that they imposed on the Canaries was reinforced by the fact that the yellow team, this time in black, seemed to show up an hour less for the match. The time difference, you know. The

Las Palmas

match cannot be explained

, it is unknown and even more so taking into account what the rojiblancos suffered in the first leg at the island stadium.

Atlético suffered a revolution both tactically and in terms of names. The red and whites started with a 4-4-2, instead of their usual 5-3-2, and with an unprecedented forward:

Correa

and

Llorente

. The latter had not stepped on the attack line in Cholo's eleven since a match against Liverpool in which the rojiblancos overcame the reds in the 2020 Champions League. The Madrid native also scored a double, only instead of in the first 20 minutes was in the last 20.

On this occasion, the Argentine and the yellow defense were his accomplices to pierce Álvaro Vallés

' goal

. If in the first he would benefit from a rebound off

Perrone

's body

to, alone, slot his shot to the left of the Canarian goalkeeper. In the second it would be

Correa

who would take a ball from

Coco

, after he had rested on his laurels, and would give it up to the Spaniard, also unguarded at the penalty spot, to score his double.

Llorente scores one of his goals against Vallés.PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOUAFP

Las Palmas

, a team happy with the ball, did not know how to overcome the red-and-white pressure and each departure of the ball from their defensive line was torment. He achieved it twice in the first half, once

Javi Muñoz

hit a shell into the top corner and in the second it was Munir who shot from the edge of the area and saw how his shot licked the crossbar. Before,

Lino

had warned again after the passivity of the Canarian defense against a caracoleo from

Lino

.

Vallés

responded to the Brazilian with the stoppage of the match.

The second part started in the same way as the first, with a small difference. This time

Correa

did get it right with one of the opportunities he had. The Argentine, who had a clear chance that ended in a corner, had a second chance after the corner kick itself. Although the initial ball was rejected by the defense,

Koke

fought the aerial ball, it ended up in the forward's boots with the defense coming out with all the Canarian parsimony that one can imagine, and he only had to put it in the net.

unknown canaries

Figueroa Vázquez

used the same parsimony

in taking the walk towards the Var to review a clear penalty by

Marvin

on

Lino

. The defender does not touch the ball after throwing himself to the ground against the Brazilian. The maximum penalty was awarded by

Correa

. It was the afternoon for doubles and the Argentine deserved to give himself this joy. He could have scored the hat trick if he had taken advantage of a steal in midfield with

Vallés

30 meters from his goal. He had another one on a counter a few minutes later, but he also missed the shot.

In the 80th minute,

Kirian

was preparing to take a dangerous free kick in the red and white field and slipped when hitting the ball that ended in a throw-in against him. The image of the Canarian captain face up, like a turtle turning around, was a good metaphor for what the match at the Metropolitano was like.

Las Palmas did not appear in Madrid and received the biggest defeat of this season. Crowned by a handball that

Memphis

made in the penultimate minute of the game, they should have set the alarm an hour earlier. The time difference, you know.