Atletico Madrid drew at Sanchez Pizjuan against Sevilla on Saturday. Simeone’s team dominated the first half while Sevilla controlled the second half. The draw was a fair result for both squads who did not show enough ambition to claim the victory by maintaining the fight for the champions league place, which belongs to Malaga, four points ahead.

First Half

The Argentinean Toto Salvio connected a header into the bottom corner after a lovely delivery from the left wing by Gaby in the eight minute. Sevilla, despite their supporters, could not keep the ball and generate any danger to the Belgian keeper, Courtois.

Atletico Madrid won the battle to Seville in the midfield with four players (Tiago, Gabi, Mario and Koke) against Ratikic and Medel, who were unable to stop the charges of Salvio and Adrian from the wings.

Salvio was the biggest problem for the Sevilla defenders; The Argentinean had two more chances to extend Atletico’s advantage, but an inspirited Palop saved them. Atletico seemed to run out of stamina after half an hour.

Reyes, playing against his former club, tried a curly shoot from the right side but he missed the goal by inches in the 34th minute. Before the end of the first half, Kanoute came closer to making the equaliser but his header went away from the goal.

Second Half

Sevilla’s manager Michel introduced midfielder Trochoswki to balance his team and get more possession of the ball. Also Kanoute went to the top diamond position to give a hand creating more play for his teammate.

Soon the change improved Sevilla’s performance and Navas was the sharpest player in the right flank, creating many problems for Atletico’s defenders. Sevilla drew the match in the 53th minute when Navas whipped an excellent cross to stricker Baba who only had to choose side to score.

Simeone did not have any answers to stop the Sevilla offensive. Reyes shot a free kick from the right side but Courtois rejected it in the 60th minute. Twelve minutes later, Navas again delivery a perfect ball to Reyes’s head but the Atletico keeper saved it perfectly.

Sevilla almost got the win in the 89th minute, but the referee, Alfonso Álvarez disallowed correctly Manu del Moral’s goal for offside. The result left both Sevilla and Atletico Madrid levelled on 33 points in 11th and 10th respectively.

After the match, Simeone and Michel agreed that the result was fair for both teams and they still have their hopes to reach champions Leagues position.

Image Courtesy of    https://www.facebook.com/AtleticodeMadrid

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About the author

Max Perez
Spanish journalist with two years of experience in Spain. I have just finished my Masters in Multimedia Journalism at Bournemouth University in UK. There are two things that I can offer to any media company: the Spanish language and my multimedia skills gained at Bournemouth University. I can convert the same story into radio, video, print and web. I can film and edit with Premier or Final Cut, and I have advance knowledge about Photoshop. I love a challenge and don’t give up when things get difficult. I have worked for the last five years to pay my own way through two Masters degrees at Bournemouth University: Business with Marketing and Multimedia Journalism. I have passed both with merit. This shows that I am determined, perseverant and ambitious.