Atletico Madrid 3-1 Granada
Atletico Madrid will sleep soundest as the La Liga leaders, following a two-goal victory over newly promoted Granada.
The first half started off at lightning pace for Atletico, who sliced through the Granada defence early on, but Alvaro Morata could not finish from close range. After that, Los Colchoneros stuttered a little more in the face of Granada resistance, with captain Koke Resurreccion taken off for Pablo Barrios after just five minutes.
Morata had the ball in the back of the net, but was ruled offside, a familiar sight at the Metropolitano. He was able to celebrate without an eye on the linesman in first-half stoppage time after on-loan Real Madrid defender Jesus Vallejo played the ball into his path, which he dispatched easily. He would do so again about a minute later, but again was dragged back by the offside flag, although the offender was Marcos Llorente.
STANDINGS | This is how the #LALIGAEASPORTS table looks after the first matchday! pic.twitter.com/P0fx4KThV5
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Granada had shown some character and ambition though, and just after Gonzalo Villar was sent on for his debut, the former Roma midfielder picked Yannick Carrasco’s pocket deep in his own half, and laid the ball on a plate for Samu Omorodion. The 19-year-old was making his Granada debut, and did not make a mistake from close range.
Diego Simeone one-upped Paco Lopez with his substitution though, sending on Memphis Depay for Morata. He would be at the heart of two good chances before picking the ball up and unleashing a missile into the top corner from around 35 yards out. Unstoppable, it’s an early contender for goal of the season.
Atlético de Madrid 3-1 Granada CF
Memphis strikes a worldie as Atleti pick up a victory to start the campaign!
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As Granada pushed forward, they began creating problems for Jan Oblak, but more of them for themselves at the back. Diego Simeone told his side to continue attacking during the cooling break, and they had a number of opportunities to seal the match late on, which were blocked and hustled away by the away side.
It wasn’t until the 98th minute when Llorente was given the ball in the box, and slotted between the legs of Andre Ferreira. A pleasing night for Simeone with debuts for Caglar Soyuncu and Cesar Azpilicueta, the only sour note being the injury to Koke.
Los Nazaries suffered towards the end, but will be heartened that they went to the best La Liga side in 2023, and mixed it with them for a good part of the match. They face Rayo Vallecano at home next, while Atletico travel to Real Betis.
