Abraham P. Romero

Updated Saturday, February 24, 2024-23:07

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Between the first leg of the

Champions

League round of 16 against Inter and the second leg of the

Cup semifinals

against

Athletic

,

Atlético de Madrid

showed up in

Almería

very disconnected from their league reality.

It may sound logical given the possibility of fighting for two titles, but it is dangerous when Athletic continues to push in the standings and when Simeone's team faced the most needy team in Spanish football.

Two left-footed shots by

Luka Romero

prevented the Colchonero victory and tied the goals of

Correa and De Paul

.

Without

Griezmann

and with

Morata

called up but on the bench, Cholo gave his attack to the originality of Lino and the impetus of

Memphis and Correa

, two substitutes forced to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity that has been presented to them due to the injuries of their teammates.

And the Argentine landed before anyone else in Andalusia.

In the 2nd minute,

Reinildo

, an expeditious center back in defense but with gaps in attack, invented an extraordinary slalom between two rivals, pipe included, to stand on the back line and assist Correa in the center of the area.

The forward did not fail, relieving the little red-and-white tension and stabbing the spirit of Almería, who had not yet won in the League.

The locals, without

Arribas

, a substitute, but with

Viera

and the young

Luka Romero

, decided not to lose air with the game and with the League, aware despite everything that the dream of salvation is almost impossible.

Perhaps for that reason, for breathing like someone who knows that he has nothing more to lose because he has barely won, they reacted.

Garitano

has relied these weeks on winter signings, clear of the negative trend of the first months.

Lozano was the first to try with a long shot and a header, both occasions after a red and white loss.

Atlético fell asleep, tired muscularly and mentally from

Milan

's effort and thinking about Thursday's duel in

San Mamés

.

And he suffered.

In the 26th minute,

Luka Romero

, that boy who debuted at the age of 16 with

Mallorca in the Second Division

(he is now 19), tied the game with a colossal left foot shot that surprised

Oblak

.

All after another red-and-white loss that resulted in Pubill

's unopposed

start up to three quarters of the rival field.

Simeone's face was a poem.

And the relaxation of his team, too much.

The goal gave wings to an Almería that saw itself with enough virtues to knock down the worst version of the rojiblancos, sustained only by the attempts of

Samu Lino

.

Slow and imprecise in the midfield, neither Koke, nor Barrios nor De Paul performed at their level and Atlético never found rhythm.

Simeone's changes

After the break, Simeone's pulse did not tremble (it never trembles) and he left the locker room with a decided double change.

He sat Koke on Lino

and brought on

Llorente and Riquelme

.

A warning that spread to the rest of the team.

In the 56th minute, a remote-controlled clearance by Nahuel Molina found De

Paul

in the center of the field, with space.

The Argentine drove to the area while

Robertone and Radovanovic

were bailing out, and tried a shot that deflected the center back and ended at 1-2.

Riquelme sent a ball to the crossbar in Atlético's best minutes, which saw the 1-3 decision up close, but

between Viera and Luka Romero they invented the tie

.

The Canary Islander saw the Argentine inside the area and he, with the calm of a veteran and the quality of a world-class footballer, defined magically from outside against Oblak.

His first two goals in the League to give life to the bottom of the table.

Simeone squeezed his bullets in the final stretch, bringing on Morata in attack and

Saúl and Witsel

in the center of the field, always looking for the energy he was missing on the pitch.

The Spanish forward had the two clearest chances in the last few minutes

, but he was not successful.

Two volleys, one with the left and one with the right, that he couldn't send into the net.

Melero

, in '94, also had one to give the Andalusians their first victory of the season.

The cliché is easy: the result does not serve either of them.

Atlético

drops points again and could be trapped by Athletic in fourth place and

Almería

is

11 away

from salvation

.