At that moment, the “hello, hello” with which Atlético and Cholo themselves had appeared at the Olympic Stadium in Rome had long since welcomed back the Champions League, this competition that is the dream and that last year was the worst nightmare. In fact, the referee was just about to put the whistle in his mouth to sound the final whistle. Atleti won. Oblak had just stuck out his fingertips with one of his saves in the final minute to prevent a goal being conceded. The touch of his gloves deflected Cataldi’s ball just enough for it to go into his net. Lay me at your wife’s feet, Atleti could scream at the Champions League while stepping on it with the firmness of victory on day one. But then Provedel, the goalkeeper who not only scores goals, but who once, against Ascoli, scored one in the last minute by going to the opponent’s goal in search of the flute, decided to give up his net and focus on the goal Oblak move to head the goal. Final corner that allowed Lazio to be saved by Oblak.
The radio had already stopped singing João’s goals in Barcelona, the red-whites also had theirs, one from Barrios that gave them victory, a debut in the Champions League that would puncture the wound of Saturday in Valencia. He performed well in the game, steady and intense, as a Cholo team demands. Witsel survived Mestalla, Nahuel returned to the eleven and Lino made his debut in the Carrasco suit. Up front, Sarri punished Casale in central defense for his mistakes at the weekend and brought Vecino into midfield to give him more confidence. If the cholismo seemed to intensify in the first few minutes, nothing could be further from it. Luis Alberto and Kamada caught the ball and began making illusions to establish Sarrismo on the green.
They hid it, they played it, they locked the red and white in their field. Unable to advance the cholo game, Griezmann misses terribly even if they had him in front of them, because the one who went through the Olympics in the first half is not yet. The Grizi of emotion, the one of spectacle, the one of incomparable sound, the only one, the unsurpassed… He hasn’t returned from the summer yet and when Grizi isn’t there, they turn off Cholo’s music. In the first half, the Frenchman only managed to approach Provedel’s goal once, but ended up getting tangled with his own feet after passing to Patric. Meanwhile, Oblak kept appearing on the screen. Sometimes with fists, sometimes with a volley from Luis Alberto that goes wide and whistles into his ear. Morata was an island and there seems to be nothing left of the Llorente who rode a motorcycle. But then Barrios appeared and Atleti found the goal before the football.
They managed it between Nahuel, who assisted, and the youth player, who shot from the front. Kamada helped by hitting the ball on his back and changing its trajectory as if shouting: “A cigar.” If Sarri Pellegrini were to lose through injury shortly afterwards, Cholo’s goalscorer would not return from the dressing room after the break, the victim, which was selected in the medical report for each game. In his place, Giménez. In his place, Witsel. Griezmann gained color, pulse and possession of the ball.
Oblak for the Provedel brand
Cholo’s men forgot the kick and started playing. Lazio was diluted and only threatened Oblak because of Oblak’s own mistakes, such as when he took the ball out to pass it to Lazio and allowed a direct shot from Immobile. But the Italian aimed at the only place where he wouldn’t find a target: the Slovenian’s body. Morata smashed the ball onto the post and the rebound forced Provedel to parry first against him and then against Lino, always a big deal. If Grizi played the music again, the others would seal Oblak’s area with four locks, just as a fall from Witsel would seal Cholo’s stomach. It went over the knee. He complained of pain.
The last minutes were filled by Riquelme with his performance, imbuing every action he tried with the aroma of a great footballer, even if he started from the left lane, and that stop from Oblak to Cataldi with his nails. Time has been added. Corner. Provedel has already arrived in the Oblak area to see what he hunts when he hunts. Hermoso clears with his chest and the ball goes back to Cataldi. Center to Luis Alberto and written conclusion: Provedel pounces on the leather like a 9 to fall to Cholo all in yellow. 1-1. craziness. Definitely, yes. The cigar from before, now for Atleti, a great cigar.
Changes
Manuel Lazzari (37′, Luca Pellegrini), Jose Gimenez (45′, Pablo Barrios), Matteo Guendouzi (61′, Daichi Kamada), Gustav Isaksen (61′, Felipe Anderson), Angel Correa (74′, Axel Witsel), Danilo Cataldi (75th minute, Matías Vecino), Pedro (75′, Mattia Zaccagni), Rodrigo Riquelme (78′, Samuel Lino)
Goals
0-1, 28′: Pablo Barrios Rivas1-1, 94′: Ivan Provedel
cards
Referee: Slavko Vincic
Referee VAR: Nejc Kajtazovic, Bastian Dankert
Griezmann (25′, yellow) Samuel Linus (66′, yellow) Immobile (83′, yellow) Patrick (83′, yellow) Correa (93′, yellow)
classification
Group E PT PJ PG PE PP
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Group E PT PJ PG PE PP
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
