Atletico Madrid vs. Sevilla: Poor Finishing Costs Atleti Three Points

Sevilla and Atletico Madrid played to a scoreless draw in their La Liga match Sunday.

Sooner or later, luck is bound to catch up with you.

That happened sooner rather than later for Atletico as they were outplayed in their Europa League match against Stade Rennes earlier in the week. Quite the opposite happened in the Calderón against Sevilla.

Manager Gregorio Manzano opted to tweak his formation a little bit after playing with a 4-3-3 for much of the season. The club has had trouble regaining possession at times after giving the ball away. It was certainly a glaring problem against Barcelona last weekend and against Rennes, it proved worrisome.

To counter this a bit, Manzano decided to play with more of a 4-2-3-1. Wingers Arda Turan and José Antonio Reyes dropped back a little bit and midfielder Diego took a more advanced role.

The switch seemed to work as Atletico bullied most of the first half, but the match became much more even in the second. Although the stats say Sevilla had a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal, it was Atletico who really had the better chances.

No one had a better opportunity to score than Atletico striker Radamel Falcao in the 62th minute. A cross came in, and Falcao, about four yards out from goal, booted it over the crossbar.

He had another opportunity about six minutes later, but Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas made a great save. Falcao has scored five league goals in as many matches for Atletico, but all of the goals came in a two-match stretch.

This was the third match in a row that he was off the scoresheet. Although, Falcao at least got himself in position to score Sunday, unlike the previous two matches against Rennes and Barcelona.

Reyes also missed two chances to score early in the match, with a shot saved in the fifth minute and a shot wide of goal in the 10th minute.

Reyes has really struggled all year. In the first couple of matches, he seemed to be roaming around the field not exactly clear of what he should be doing. He's gotten better, but nowhere near the level he was playing last season.

One player who continues to shine for Atletico is goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian continues to look confident and sure handed in the box. Sevilla striker Manu was one-on-one with Courtois, but Courtois rushed out and was able to deny the goal. He then recovered and stopped striker Frederic Kanouté's rebound.

The 19-year-old Courtois, on loan from Chelsea, has certainly been able to pick up where the departed David de Gea left off.

With the draw, Atletico sit eighth in the table on eight points. Their next match is October 15 against Granada.