“A disheartening draw for Atleti: Real Betis steals away their Champions League dreams”

Real Betis 2:2 Atlético Madrid

(63' Koke), (94' Falcao); (86' Pozuelo), (88' Pereira)

In a game of missed opportunities, Atlético de Madrid couldn't pull off a win that was vital to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. The crucial three points they needed were reduced to one point putting them six points behind 4^th place Malaga. It certainly was a game of should have, could have's for Los Rojiblancos. They had several opportunities throughout the entire match that easily could have been goals.

As it always seems to go with Atléti, the first half was less exciting with no goals scored. However, Atléti had plenty of opportunities. Both Adrian and Falcao were very close to scoring a goal, though both of them seemed to be taking too many touches and wasting too much time. Falcao seemed a bit off his game. El Tigre is famous for his ability to get his foot on the ball at just the right time, though in this game, he seemed to always be two seconds behind.

The second half began and Atléti continued to put pressure on the Betis defenseman. In the 63^rd minute they finally managed to break through when Koke scored his first goal. Tiago took a free kick which Falcao then headed right to Koke's feet. The midfielder shot the ball which hit the crossbar before hitting the back of the net.

 

Atléti held their lead for the next 20 minutes, and just as it seemed as though they had the win mostly secured, Betis scored. The home team trapped the ball off a free kick, passed it to the center where Pozuelo shot it right past Courtois. Things got even worse as Betis scored yet again, only two minutes later, when Pereira received the ball at the top of the box and easily put it in the net.

Atléti almost equalized the score when Falcao went one on one with the keeper. Just before he shot the ball, he was tripped by the defending goalie. However, he stayed on his feet and the referee didn't call a penalty kick. There was a lot of buzz after the match about how maybe Atléti could have won if Falcao had fallen and received the penalty kick. However, according to marca.com, when asked if Atléti should have received a penalty, coach Diego Simeone said, “ We had too many other opportunities to have to depend on a penalty.”

Thankfully, in the last minute of the game, Falcao did manage to equalize the score. On the last corner kick of the match, El Tigre headed the ball past Betis keeper, Fabricio. Though a draw is much better than a loss, Los Colchoneros seemed a bit down after the game. However, they are fighting to stay positive as Falcao tweets, “We are sad about the draw, but we have to keep working and move forward.” 

written by Donais Deetz