Chapter 562: Penalty kick and red card

Although Atletico Madrid, who put on a strong attack, firmly grasped the initiative on the field, they failed to break the deadlock on the field until the halfway point of the first half, and even the threatening attacks were only a handful.

In fact, in last season's La Liga, Sevilla also played in the second leg of the two teams' meeting at the edge of the penalty area. But in that game, Atletico Madrid only took more than 20 minutes to make the game lose suspense early.

Although Diego Costa's departure has had an impact on Atletico Madrid's attacking power, he did not play in the second leg of the meeting between the two sides last season due to injury. Moreover, Mandzukic, who was transferred from the Bundesliga hegemony Bayern Munich in the new season, is not weaker than Diego Costa in terms of individual ability.

The reason why this game was so difficult is that in addition to the newcomer Mandzukic has not yet fully integrated into the team, after the brilliant result of the treble last season, even though Diego Simeone repeatedly told Atletico Madrid players to keep a normal heart during the training camp of the new season, there are still many players who have a sense of pride in their hearts.

As a result, last season's Atletico Madrid team, which was a "spelling" in every game and would take ferocious pressing regardless of the opponent's possession of the ball, was no longer as active in defense as before. And in the attack, the original team that constantly creates offensive space in the front court through a wide range of runs is gone, and their offensive means are very simple, as long as they take the ball, they will hand it over to Feng Quan and Griezmann on both sides, relying on their side breakthroughs to solve the problem.

If it were last season, he might still be able to rely on Diego Costa's midfield to grab points and barely make a kill. Although Mandzukic, who is now in front of the goal, also has a good header and point-grabbing ability, due to the relationship between him and Feng Quan and Griezmann not long after joining the team, he has not yet reached enough tacit understanding, so it is still difficult to tear apart Sevilla's iron bucket formation by relying only on simple side crosses.

The Sevilla team, which withstood the onslaught of the opponent, used the flexible running and speed advantage of the team's arrow character Baca to constantly impact the defense of the Atletico Madrid team.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, Juanfran accurately found Mandzukic ambushed in the penalty area with a 45-degree diagonal pass on the right side, but under the interference of two Sevilla defenders, Mandzukic, who tried his best, pushed the ball towards the goal, but was easily caught in the arms of the guarded goalkeeper Beto.

Immediately afterward, Beto ran forward two steps with the ball in his arms, and it was a precise big foot that sent the ball into the huge space on the left side of the field.

Although Gabi and Miranda rushed to the right of space the next moment after Beto's big kick, they couldn't get the ball ahead of Bacca, who is known for his speed.

After Baca stopped the ball steadily, he first accelerated to get rid of Gabi's interference, and then changed direction twice in a row, getting rid of Miranda's interception and hitting the edge of the penalty area. At the same time, Bitolo on the right has also come to the corner of the big penalty area on the right.

Worried that Baca would pass the ball to Bitolo on the right, Godin, as the last line of defense in front of the goalkeeper, did not immediately pounce on Baca, but left himself room to intercept the pass.

Seeing that Godin didn't press himself closely, Baca then smashed the ball with his right foot into the box in front of the left.

After Baca burst into the penalty area, goalkeeper Moya, who made his first official appearance for Atletico Madrid, did not hesitate to rush in the direction of the opponent's breakthrough.

Seeing that Moya chose to abandon the goal, Baca did not immediately get up and shoot, but was ready to wait until the opponent was close to him, and then shake Moya down and send the football into the empty goal.

Although Baca's fake shot and real dunk deceived Moya, who abandoned the goal, lost his center of gravity, Moya, who stretched his arms with all his strength after falling to the ground, still brought it to Baca's support leg, and then tripped him in the penalty area.

Just as Baka issued a "Ah——! The next moment he fell on the turf with a scream, the referee from England blew the whistle in his hand and pointed his right hand at the penalty spot.

This is not the end, Moya with a helpless face just got up from the lawn, and the referee quickly rushed to him, and then took out a red card from his pocket with lightning speed.

If the referee had only shown Moya a yellow card, the Atletico Madrid players might have accepted the penalty, but when the England referee pulled out a red card, the Atletico Madrid players, including captain Gabi, rushed to the referee to plead.

While there is nothing wrong with a referee's penalty and red card from a football point of view, it would be overkill to make such a decision in a game like the UEFA Super Cup, which is far more spectacular than economical.

However, no matter how much the Atletico Madrid players pleaded, they could not get the England referee to revoke the red card. Not only that, but Alda Turan also received a yellow card for being too emotional.

Seeing that the referee had no intention of revoking the red card, Gabi hurriedly dispersed the many teammates who were "besieging" the referee to avoid more teammates from needlessly eating cards. Diego Simeone, on the sidelines, asked Oblak on the bench to get up and warm up, while asking his assistant to inform the fourth official on the sidelines that he was ready to replace Mandzukic as the starting center.

Considering the peculiarity of the goalkeeper's position, the England referee gave Oblak more than a minute to warm up after his arrival before signaling Sevilla's Baca to be ready to take the penalty.

…………

When the referee showed Moya the red card, Oblak, who was sitting on the bench, suddenly had a very conflicted feeling in his heart.

As an Atletico Madrid player, Oblak does not want to see his teammates receive red cards; On the other hand, Moya, who was sent off as a starter, meant that as a substitute goalkeeper, he had a chance to show his ability.

Then, when manager Diego Simeone directed him to warm up, Oblak's excitement was indescribable. However, as Oblak ran from the sidelines to the Atletico Madrid goal, he began to try to suppress his excitement. Because he knows very well that if he can take advantage of this opportunity to help the team turn the tide of the current penalty crisis, then his chances of getting a place in the main team will be greatly increased, and on the contrary, he will continue to wait for a long time.

However, if you want to block Barca's penalty, you have to calm down first.

…………

PS: Atletico Madrid's starting line-up for the UEFA Super Cup:

Goalkeeper: Moya;

Defence: Javi Manquillo, Miranda, Godin, Juanfran

Midfielders: Gabi, Koke, Alda Turan;

Forwards: Feng Quan, Mandzukic, Griezmann.