Eibar vs. Atletico Madrid: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Atletico Madrid earned a 2-0 victory at Eibar on Saturday night, to reach second place in La Liga behind Real Madrid.
Barcelona can leapfrog both sides if they win on Sunday night, but for now Diego Simeone's side only trail their city rivals in the table.
Winning in the Basque country was tough, with the score goalless at half-time.
The Rojiblancos' coach made three substitutions before the hour mark, which unlocked the game.
Angel Correa and Fernando Torres scored and set each other up in the second period to give their side the points.
Here are the winners and losers from the clash at Ipurua.
Winner: Diego Simeone
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There are few people out there who don't rate Atletico Madrid's coach. Diego Simeone is one of the most admired managers in world football.
Victory here came as a direct result of his substitutions.
At half-time Oliver and Fernando Torres entered the fray, before Angel Correa joined them a few minutes later.
Taking off expensive acquisitions Luciano Vietto and Jackson Martinez was brave, but braver still was removing fan favourite Koke.
Torres set up Correa almost immediately after the latter's introduction. Later, all three substitutes combined for the second goal, which was netted by the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker.
Atletico's first team may not match up on paper to the talent in Real Madrid and Barcelona, but when harnessed by a man with the motivational and tactical skills of Simeone, the playing field is closer to being even.
Loser: Koke
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The Atletico Madrid midfielder has endured a poor start to the season.
After he excelled in the 2013-14 campaign, which saw his side win La Liga, and then continued to impress last season, his progress seems to have stalled.
Perhaps it's a little bit of the summer sluggishness still in his body, but Koke hasn't been the force he was previously.
Even his set-piece delivery was poor here, something which is usually a strength.
His removal for Angel Correa instantly precipitated the game's first goal.
He will bounce back—the sooner, the better for Atletico Madrid.
Winner: Fernando Torres
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This was the first time in a long time that Fernando Torres genuinely looked like a threat.
It's not the first time he's scored; he netted against Spanish champions Barcelona in his previous La Liga outing.
But in that game he rarely bothered the defence, and his goal seemed to come from nothing—a slightly mishit shot that bobbled into the far corner.
This performance, coming on to replace Jackson Martinez at half-time, was a lot better.
He set up Angel Correa before exquisitely finishing after the Argentine had threaded him through on goal.
Now that Torres is surrounded by other strikers, the pressure on him to make the difference has dissipated.
He is in an environment he feels comfortable in, without much weight on his shoulders.
As Diego Simeone said after the game, the manager now has a lot of options.
"We have a great squad, as you saw in Seville and Turkey (against Galatasaray). After the changes, the players that came on did very well, like Jackson in Sevilla or today with Fernando Torres, Oliver and Correa. This speaks well of the footballers," he explained, per Sport.
This plays into Torres' hands, and he will be relishing the chance to continue his form in the weeks ahead.
Loser: Jose Luis Mendilibar
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First things first: Jose Luis Mendilibar can be proud of his Eibar team.
They are minnows compared to the might of Atletico Madrid, yet for over half the game they matched their opponents.
In fact, for the first half-hour, they were better than the side from the Spanish capital.
That is cause for celebration, but at the end of the day, Eibar left without anything to show for their efforts.
Mendilibar is quite a defensive coach and can be too cautious at times.
If he had given his side a little more permission to attack during the first half, perhaps they could have breached Atletico Madrid's defence.
It's a balancing act, and there is also the chance that Luciano Vietto or Jackson Martinez might have struck on the break.
So calling him a loser is a little mean. But he and his team lost, and we will never know if it might have been a different story had Eibar had a bit more freedom.
Winner: Angel Correa
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Remember the name. It is not hard to imagine the Argentine youngster becoming a hot property in the next few years.
Atletico have a reputation for turning out excellent forwards; Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa are just some who have been sold after stepping up their level on the banks of the Manzanares.
Correa could easily become the next talent to progress at the club, especially under Diego Simeone's tutelage.
The coach said after the game, per Sport: "Angel Correa is a player who can unbalance opponents near the box, and he can score too. He came on in an important moment in the game, when the team needed an individual action in a tough, difficult game, against an Eibar side that worked very well defensively."
Atletico stood by the 20-year-old for an entire year while he recovered from heart surgery, per ESPN, and it looks like he was worth the wait.
He made an instant impact when he came on in the second half, with a fine body swerve to fool Eibar's defence and work some space for himself. From there, he opened the scoring.
Correa then played an inch-perfect through ball for the second goal. There are big things to come from this young man.
