“Radamel Falcao: Athletic Bilbao’s greatest demise”

Atletico de Madrid 4:0 Athletic Bilbao

(20’ Falcao), (42’ Falcao), (59’ (penalty) Falcao), (84’ Tiago)

Athletic Bilbao has had a rough start to the season, especially with the pending sales of Fernando Llorente and Javi Martínez.  Last night, Atlético de Madrid did not make things any easier for Athletic.  Yesterday was the first time these two rivals met after Atleti's victory in the Europa League final, where Falcao scored two goals.  Atelti went on to further embarrass them, scoring a total of four goals, with a hat-trick from Falcao.  It was certainly a tremendous match for Los Rojiblancos, Simeone's men left little room for error.

Atleti started off the first half very strong.  They had solid possession and kept the ball in Bilbao's half of the field.  They had a free kick early on in which they almost scored.  Bilbao seemed a bit sluggish and their defense was struggling.  It was only a matter of time before Falcao scored.  In the 20^th minute he dribbled up the left side of the box, cut inside beating out an Athletic defender, and sent a low shot to the back right corner of the net.  This was El Tigre's first goal of the season, and he did his classic victory slide after scoring.

Los Colchoneros kept up their momentum and 20 minutes later El Tigre was at it again.  Gabi crossed the ball off a bounce from the right side of the field and Falcao brilliantly put the ball in the net with a sort of flying kick.  A very impressive effort from both Gabi and Falcao!  The Colombian striker was very enthusiastic with his goal celebrations.  After this one, he ran behind the net, jumped up on the wall, faced the crowd, and threw his hands up in glory.  The fans went wild, of course.

Just before the end of the half, Bilbao had a handball in the box, giving Los Colchoneros a penalty kick.  Not surprisingly, Falcao stepped up to take the penalty. He paused for dramatic effect before slamming the ball into the left corner of the net as the Basque keeper dove right.  A hat-trick for El Tigre!  The half ended with Atleti up by 3 as a sullen Athletic headed to the locker rooms.  Let's just say that coach Marcelo Bielsa did not look happy.

The second half started off well.  Atleti still led in possession, though Athletic had a few more attempts to score than in the first half.  Belgian keeper, Thibaut Courtois, actually used his hands a few times.  However, it was not nearly enough to stop Atleti.  Coach Diego Simeone made three substitutions, putting Adrian, Diego Costa, and Tiago on the field.  For the first time in a long time, Falcao was subbed off.  This was mostly just to rest him for the upcoming Supercup match against Chelsea.

Atleti further embarrassed Athletic in the 84^th minute when Tiago scored.  He had a beautiful shot from the top of the box that went just over keeper Iraizoz’s head, just under the crossbar, and into the net.  The game ended with a 4-0 win for Los Colchoneros.  They played an excellent match and are hoping to keep up their momentum for Friday when they face Champions League winners, Chelsea, in Monaco for the Supercup.

written by Donais Deetz