Real Sociedad chokes Atletico and takes a point from the Calderon

The last place team arrived at Vicente Calderon stadium and Javier Aguirre had warned about the danger of the match. The Mexican coach was right, as Real Sociedad choked Atletico from beginning to end. The home team rescued a point in the second half thanks to a stroke of luck. Real Sociedad showed up ready to play in the first half and with Luccin being closely watched wherever he went, Atletico de Madrid hardly tested Bravo. Lotina had the Frenchman tied up, and with Maniche almost always far from the ball, Aguirre’s pupils never found themselves comfortable. Agüero hardly showed up in the first forty-five minutes, while Fernando Torres tried his luck down the right wing, trying to open up the Real defence in this manner. Real Sociedad, who didn’t come undone at all, took advantage of one of their attacks to put one by Leo Franco. Jesuli sent in a cross from the left and Gari, making a run from behind and left wide open, scored on an easy header. Nerves turned the home team into prey, and for several minutes seemed dazed. Gari, again, could have taken advantage of this lapse, but another header didn’t find the net. Atletico, spurred on by Javier Aguirre, who had gotten up off the bench, gave one last push before the intermission, although with more heart than brains. With time almost up, Antonio Lopez took a masterly free-kick, but more spectacular was the flying save by Bravo, who got a hand on the ball as it headed for the upper corner. The second half began as the first had ended. This time it was Pernía who took a free-kick and again Bravo stretched as far as he could, just enough to get a hand on the ball and send it over after it brushed the crossbar. Once again the opposing keeper became the undisputed player of the match. Minutes later Luccin also tried his luck from a free-kick but this time the ball went well wide. Real tightened up more and more, which caused Javier Aguirre to put in Mista on the left and Jurado in the centre to give life to Atletico’s attack. Lotina’s players didn’t approach Leo Franco’s goal as they had in the first half, but they unceremoniously cut down everything that Atletico threw at them. For Atletico, the game had a very ugly aspect, but a centre sent in from the right side by Galletti, that didn’t appear to be too dangerous, ended up in the back of the net after Ansotegi miscontrolled the cross with his chest, thereby sending it into his own goal. This stroke of luck gave Atletico some life in the game’s waning moments, but the ideas, almost completely absent up to that point, didn’t appear. All of the balls sent into Bravo’s area didn’t provoke that desired effect and in the end Atletico only managed a single point that leaves a bad taste in their mouths.