Valencia are off to a brilliant start in La Liga, and based on their performance against Atlético Madrid on Saturday, they’re the real deal. They’re top of the league after pulling off a stunning 3-1 win at the Mestalla.
Valencia vs. Atlético Madrid: Final score 3-1, Simeone’s men hammered
A nightmare 13 minutes and some huge mistakes by Atlético’s defense were enough for Valencia to score three goals and defend that lead throughout the rest of the match.
Manuel Queimadelos Alonso
When your goalkeeper concedes two bad goals in eight minutes, you're probably going to have a bad day. That's probably what Atléti manager Diego Simeone thought after seeing Miranda making a terrible, head-scratching mistake on Valencia's opening goal. If that wasn't enough, André Gomes increased Valencia's lead a minute later after yet more soft defending by Atlético Madrid.
And then it got worse. Atlético Madrid, arguably Europe’s most dominating team on set pieces, conceded Valencia’s third goal off a corner kick five minutes after Gomes’ wonderful goal. 13 minutes. That’s all it took for Valencia to build a 3-0 lead. Furthermore, it was Nicolás Otamendi -- a reasonably short center back -- the one who set Mestalla on fire and knocked Atlético down on that third goal.
After that, los rojiblancos managed to gather back their composure and started to dominate. Valencia were happy to sit back and enjoy that three-goal lead until Mario Mandzukic scored Atleti’s first on the 29th minute. What happened after wasn’t as exciting as the first third of the game, but it could have been different had Guilherme Siqueira scored from the spot right before halftime. Atleti’s new left back took the ball away from Mandzukic, who felt confident enough to convert the penalty, but Siqueira missed miserably in front of Diego Alves’ penalty-saving skills.
Football is a game of big if’s, and Simeone will have the next two weeks to imagine what could have happened had Mandzukic taken the penalty. It’s certainly true that Atlético Madrid did not have a lot of chances during the second half, but it could be argued that they were knocked out after Siqueira’s miss.
Valencia’s second half was solid. Nuno’s team showed maturity and cooled the match’s tempo down by interrupting the game, making good substitutions and getting a good performance by their midfielders. This new Valencia succeeded on their first serious test of the season, although los rojiblancos maybe paid the price for playing an important Champions League match against Juventus this past Wesneday.
Atlético's main strength as a team turned out to be their weak point in this fascinating contest in Mestalla. Now, Simeone will have two weeks to think about the things that went wrong before hosting Espanyol after the FIFA break. For instance, Simeone needs to get the best out of Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman is arguably Atleti's best player but he has been nothing short of a disappointment since he joined Atlético this summer. Griezmann is not comfortable enough behind the striker and Simeone will probably try to play him on either flank.
On the other hand, Valencia have every right to feel excited about their team again. After all, a Champions League spot is Valencia’s to lose.
Valencia: Alves, Gaya, Otamendi, Mustafi, Barragan, Fuego, Parejo, Piatti (Orban 63’), Gomes (Augusto 71’), Rodrigo, Alcacer (Feghouli 75’)
Goals: Miranda (OG 6’), Gomes (8’), Otamendi (13’)
Atlético Madrid: Moya, Siqueira, Miranda, Godin, Juanfran, Gabi, Tiago (Garcia 72’), Koke, Griezmann (Cerci 66’), Turan (Jimenez 69’), Mandzukic
Goals: Mandzukic (29’)
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