Reus Deportiu vs. Atletico Madrid: Winners and Losers from Copa Del Rey
Reus Deportiu did a sterling job in their Copa del Rey clash with Atletico Madrid at home, but couldn't quite take anything from the game.
After going ahead to great surprise in the first half, the third-tier team ended up losing 2-1 at their own, tiny Camp Nou.
The minnows are a team in good form, as they are top of Segunda Division B—Group 3, but few expected them to pose such a challenge to Diego Simeone's side.
Here are the winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Luciano Vietto
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For the first time this season, Atletico Madrid completed a game without Fernando Torres or Jackson Martinez featuring for a single minute.
Diego Simeone has been rotating those two forwards alongside Antoine Griezmann, but seems to be slowly losing faith in the pair.
Jackson is currently injured, but Torres was dropped for the Espanyol game over the weekend, coming on as a substitute, and left out entirely here.
Instead, Luciano Vietto has started the last two Atletico games and struck the equaliser here, heading home perfectly after Oliver Torres' good cross from the right.
Vietto also showed good interplay with Argentine compatriot Angel Correa, as he proved a threat for Reus all night.
It wasn't a perfect display by any means from the former Villarreal forward, but an encouraging one.
Perhaps when Jackson returns from injury he won't waltz straight into the lineup.
Loser: Lucas Hernandez
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This time last year, December 3 to be precise, Lucas Hernandez enjoyed his Atletico Madrid debut.
He started and finished a 3-0 win away at L'Hospitalet in the Copa del Rey.
Perhaps he was hoping for a similar result and performance in another trip to Catalonia, but the reality was different.
The 19-year-old Frechman lost concentration at a vital moment, swiping out at a bouncing ball instead of booting it away, as he tussled with Fran Carbia.
The Reus forward took full advantage, firing home to break the deadlock.
Other mistakes were made for the goal, with Oliver Torres, Miguel Angel Moya and Stefan Savic not coming out of the incident looking particularly good, but the biggest culprit of all was Lucas.
Diego Simeone is a good manager when it comes to youth players and he likely won't hold this one mistake against the defender, but that doesn't mean it wasn't running though his mind over and over on the flight back to the Spanish capital.
Winner: Natxo Gonzalez
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Not leaving the game with at least a draw to show for his team's efforts won't please Reus manager Natxo Gonzalez, but overall he can be happy with the performance.
Reus looked a side far better than their level, in Spain's third tier.
They were composed on the ball, stringing together a few decent attacks even if they never troubled the Atletico goalkeeper, bar the goal.
That they could battle with Saul Niguez, Koke and Thomas Partey in midfield and hold their weight was impressive, with an interesting scrap going on in the centre of the pitch between both sides. Fair but fierce.
Perhaps some of Spain's second division sides were watching this and wondering if Gonzalez might be able to do with their clubs.
Loser: Miguel Angel Moya
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It's hard not to feel a little sorry for Miguel Angel Moya.
He didn't do much wrong during his time as Atletico's first choice goalkeeper after Thibaut Courtois left, it's just that Jan Oblak became very good.
Once the Slovenian found his feet between the sticks he has been impossible for the Spaniard to displace.
Now his performances have been limited to Copa del Rey games, and in the game he had nothing to do, but he still managed to concede.
One attack by Reus left Fran Carbia in on goal and the striker finished under Moya, something he perhaps could have done better with.
It wasn't an easy save to make though, and Diego Simeone won't be too worried about the stopper's quality as a back-up.
Moya would have been hoping for the chance to make some spectacular saves to at least try and get back on track, but after the goal Reus created very few clear-cut chances, and even fewer on target.
Losers: Atletico's Maybe Men
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Atletico Madrid's younger players, like Thomas Partey, will be happy enough with their night's work. But some of the players in the squad who want to be first-teamers won't be.
Stefan Savic, for example, rarely dominated Reus's forwards in the way that a Diego Godin or Jose Gimenez could have.
Saul Niguez did a decent job of stepping into Tiago's shoes, but only impressed in parts of the game, appearing a little sloppy in others.
Guilherme Siqueira had a fine run towards the end, but for the most part didn't give Diego Simeone much reason to consider dropping Filipe Luis for him. Likewise for Jesus Gamez, who is behind Juanfran in the pecking order at right back.
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