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🇦🇷 Argentina /Sports

Athletic Bilbao Thrash Atlético Madrid 3-0 as Julián Alvarez Is Whistled and Cuti Romero Debuts

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Athletic Bilbao beat Atlético Madrid 3-0, with second-half goals from Nico Williams, Robert Navarro and Oihan Sancet.
  • Atlético dominated the first half but failed to score, then conceded twice within two minutes and could not recover.
  • Julián Alvarez returned to action and faced more whistles from visiting supporters, while former Tottenham defender Cristian “Cuti” Romero made his Atlético debut.

Two minutes of lost concentration turned Atlético Madrid’s promising first half into a 3-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao. The loss was Atlético’s first in the Spanish league this season and came just days before its Champions League opener against Liverpool.

Atlético controlled much of the opening period and created the better chances, but failed to convert them. Athletic punished that wastefulness after halftime. Nico Williams and Robert Navarro scored within two minutes of each other, and Oihan Sancet added a third goal late on to give the Basque side its second straight victory.

Athletic took advantage of those two minutes of disconnection we had, and that is the coaching staff’s responsibility.

· Diego SimeoneThe Atlético coach accepted responsibility for the two-minute spell in which his team conceded twice.

The result marked a sharp change in fortunes for Athletic, which had opened the season with two defeats. Atlético, meanwhile, left San Mamés with its concerns exposed before Wednesday’s trip to England. Coach Diego Simeone accepted responsibility for the decisive lapse, saying Athletic had taken advantage of “those two minutes of disconnection.”

The match was what you saw. We had a good first half, especially considering what the second half would bring, and then came those two minutes of poor attention and the failure to resolve situations we should have handled better.

· Diego SimeoneSimeone expanded on his assessment of Atlético’s performance.

Julián Alvarez entered in the second half alongside Cristian “Cuti” Romero, replacing Giuliano Simeone after Atlético had fallen 2-0 behind. The forward’s return did not change the game, and visiting supporters whistled him again, as they had during the 2-2 draw against Villarreal on Aug. 23.

Alvarez had remained at Atlético after expressing a desire to move to Barcelona, a situation that had angered some fans. He had also missed the previous weekend’s win over Sevilla after being left out because of an indisposition, following days in which he had missed training. Romero, who joined after leaving Tottenham, made his debut for Atlético. Simeone said his team had only one clear second-half chance, a Julián effort saved by Unai Simón, and acknowledged that Athletic is competing for the top places.

Apart from one chance for Julián, which Unai Simón saved, we did not have clear chances in the second half. Athletic are a team that will fight for the top places.

· Diego SimeoneHe described Atlético’s lack of threat after halftime and praised Athletic’s prospects.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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