Courage is a virtue, and – if he did not know that until now – Diego Simeone learned it the hard way as his Atletico won only a point in San Sebastian against Real Sociedad. Los Colchoneros opened the game terrificly, breaking the deadlock already after 51 seconds through Julian Alvarez. And then nothing. Defence, defence, and more defence. The punishment came six minutes before the end when Luka Sucic’s beauty brought the home team the draw – 1-1.Scoring a hat-trick is massive, but what about saving three penalties!?A team stacked with stars and expensive reinforcements – only Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth cost €122 million – has recently had only one creative player capable of setting goal-scoring chances to the forwards mentioned above – Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman assisted in the 1st minute as well, with a terrific heel pass for the Argentinian’s opener and his third goal of the season.Julian Alvarez (24) scores a great goal to give Atletico Madrid the 1-0 lead away from home against Real Sociedad. ⚽🇦🇷What a beautiful backheel assist from Antoine Griezmann (33) for his 4th league assist of the season. 🪄🇫🇷pic.twitter.com/XuKukeWEPM— LaLigaExtra (@LaLigaExtra) October 6, 2024 However, that “cold shower” did not affect Sociedad much, given that soon after, Imanol Alguacil’s boys started crushing the opponent. Takefusa Kubo and Martin Zubimendi caused huge problems for Los Colchoneros, while Jan Oblak made a magnificent double save to deny Igor Zubeldia and Nayef Aguerd in the 13th minute.Apart from the opening goal, Atletico’s most dangerous attempt was Nahuel Molina’s long-range strike off-target ten minutes after the break. Midway through the second period, the Slovenian keeper once more showed his skills, deflecting Enzo Barrenechea’s effort, but couldn’t do anything in the 84th minute when Luka Sucic unleashed a screamer into his net, making it 1-1.El gol que hizo Luka Sucic es para cerrar el estadio.pic.twitter.com/amv6viMmb6— VarskySports (@VarskySports) October 6, 2024 Minutes before the leveller, Simeone subbed off Alvarez, Sorloth, and Griezmann, opting to defend the lead desperately and was punished for his cowardice. Moreover, Sociedad could have taken the entire spoil, but Kubo, Mikel Oyarzabal, and Brais Mendez’s attempts failed to hit the mark. On the other hand, Alvarez’s goal was Atletico’s only shot on target!##NAJAVA_MECA_8396161##Los Colchoneros now sit in the third spot in La Liga, four points behind Real Madrid and as many as seven behind the leaders Barcelona. Still, what should worry Atletico fans more than their team’s table position is their poor display and rather clueless performances embodied in few colossal chances and only one clean sheet in the last six games.LA LIGA – MATCHDAY 9Friday Leganes – Valencia 0-0Saturday Espanyol – Mallorca 2-1 (1-0)/Kumbulla 18, Jofre 47 – Raillo 68/ Getafe – Osasuna 1-1 (1-0)/Yildirim 21 – Budimir 60/Las Palmas – Celta 0-1 (0-1)/Iglesias 28/Valladolid – Rayo Vallecano 1-2 (0-0)/Amallah 51 – de Frutos 57, 80/Real Madrid – Villareal 2-0 (1-0)/Valverde 14, Vinicius 73/Sunday Girona – Ath.Bilbao 2-1 (1-1)/Asprilla 39, Stuani 90+9 pen – Sancet 41/Alaves – Barcelona 0-3 (0-3)/Lewandowski 7, 22, 32/Sevilla – Betis 1-0 (0-0)/Lukebakio 50 pen/Sociedad – Atl.Madrid 1-1 (0-1)/Sucic 84 – Alvarez 1/
