Celta Vigo vs. Atletico Madrid: Winners and Losers from Copa Del Rey
Atletico Madrid did what they do best on Wednesday, which is not conceding goals. They head back to the Vicente Calderon next week for the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final with the confidence that they can get a good result at home and go through.
Celta Vigo, meanwhile, leave Balaidos, Spain, frustrated.
The hosts of this game were probably the better team, but even though Atletico rested first-choice goalkeeper Jan Oblak, it made no difference. There was no getting through, and it all comes down to the second leg in the Spanish capital.
Here are the winners and losers from the 0-0 match.
Loser: Iago Aspas
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Iago Aspas is having a strong season with Celta Vigo, but this was not his finest night.
When you play against Atletico Madrid, you don't get many chances. So if one comes your way, you have to bury it.
Aspas had a fine opportunity in the first half to send his team ahead, but his shot was not accurate enough, and Miguel Angel Moya parried it away.
It was not a must-score chance, but it was the type that is hard to come by against this brutal Atletico side.
If Aspas gets another one like it in the second leg, he will know he has to put it away.
Winner: Gabi
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That Atletico Madrid did not leave Celta Vigo behind in the tie is down to one man in particular: Gabi.
Not just because the veteran midfielder keeps going and going and going at the age of 32, but because with just a handful of minutes to go, he stopped Augusto Fernandez from scoring an own goal to the benefit of his former side.
The ex-Celta Vigo midfielder knocked the ball past Miguel Angel Moya, and it ran at pace toward the back of his own net. And then Gabi appeared, awake and alert, running back to stop anything untoward from occurring and playing it out to safety.
On the sideline Diego Simeone thanked his lucky stars. What would he do without this grizzled veteran?
Loser: Celta Vigo's Fans
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Until the last 10 minutes, which were rather entertaining, this was not a fun game.
In fact, it brought back memories of the game Celta Vigo played against Atletico at home on January 10—it was tough and tactically interesting but ultimately happened to get people out of their seats.
At least things have livened up for them a bit lately. After that Atletico game, Celta Vigo had gone three matches without scoring a goal.
Then came a 2-0 win over Cadiz and a thrilling 4-3 victory over Levante on January 16.
Trust Atletico Madrid to come around and slow things down once again.
Now, Celta must go to one of the trickiest stadiums in the world and get a good result to reach the semi-final of the Copa del Rey. The odds are against them.
Winner: Diego Simeone
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Diego Simeone is a defensive genius, and the stats show it.
Atletico Madrid have conceded 13 goals across 31 games in all competitions this season.
It is an astounding achievement and one that explains how they are sitting pretty at the top of La Liga, in which they have only shipped eight.
They are also going strongly in the Champions League and this competition, the Copa del Rey.
Simeone would never admit it, but his team are in with a chance of winning one, two or all three pots.
The only problem is the lack of goals from anybody other than Antoine Griezmann, and even the Frenchman couldn't strike against Celta. This is something that Atletico need to fix.
There is a world of difference between the destructive Barcelona side that did the job last year and Simeone's dour unit, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Loser: Jackson Martinez
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If a lack of goals is the problem for Atletico, then Jackson Martinez must take some of the blame.
Atletico signed the Colombian forward in the summer from Porto for an eye-watering €35 million, and he has largely failed to justify much of that fee.
Nine games have passed since Jackson found the net, with his last goal coming against Valencia in October.
He only has three in total over 22 games, which is an unacceptable rate of scoring.
Of course, this is his first season in Spain, so it's reasonable for him to need time to bed in, but at 29 years old, he is already in the prime of his career.
He has little time to get things right at Atletico.
