Atletico Madrid’s woes continued as they dropped points for the second consecutive match, this time drawing 1-1 with newly-promoted Elche at the Metropolitano Stadium.
Alexander Sorloth gave Atletico the lead on eight minutes, racing onto David Hancko’s perfectly-weighted ball into the left channel before slotting past the advancing goalkeeper. However, Elche equalized on the 15th minute through Rafa Mir, who scored with a crisp right-footed finish at the end of a lightning counter-attack.
“We need to work on our finishing and capitalize on our chances,” said Diego Simeone, Atletico’s manager, after the match. “We created enough opportunities, but we couldn’t finish them off.”
Atletico pressed forward in the second half, with Antoine Griezmann and Conor Gallagher coming close to scoring after being introduced from the bench. However, it was Elche who had the best chance of the half, with Marcos Llorente poking a snap-shot inches wide of the far post.
Simeone was booked deep in stoppage time for his frustrated reaction to a penalty not being given following a tussle in the box. “It’s frustrating when you don’t get the decisions you deserve,” Simeone said. “But we need to focus on our game and keep working.”
The draw leaves Atletico Madrid with one point after two outings, and they will be looking to get their campaign back on track when they face their next opponent.