Full-time: Atletico 1-0 Deportivo
Well, they weren’t at their best but this was deserved – Atletico created plenty of chances, especially in the second half against 10 men, and the breakthrough had to come at some point. Griezmann provided it against a tough, resilient Depor side that really made them work for the win. But they’ve cleared a banana skin here, and gained two points on Real! Thanks a lot for reading and enjoy the rest of your day.
90+1 min: Late chance for Depor! My word. Emre gets onto a cross that isn’t cleared very well, thunders an 18-yard shot towards goal ... and I think that’s beating Oblak before Godin, standing in front of goal, gets his head onto it! I’m not sure he knew much about that.
89 min: Griezmann releases Gaitan, who can’t do likewise for Gameiro quickly enough. Should have got rid of the ball far sooner – Gameiro would have been clear. A moment later, Griezmann does find Gameiro, who cuts inside and has a shot superbly blocked by Arribas.
87 min: Atletico possession, and plenty of it, but not much in the way of penetration. They just need to see this out sensibly.
85 min: Babel makes his mark, leaving a late foot in on Lucas and deservedly seeing the yellow card. Simeone looks very upset – can’t afford to lose another to injury, and fortunately Lucas has recovered.
83 min: Depor have a shot. It’s a long-range sighter from Borja, but it’s well wide.
82 min: Corner to Atleti after some good work from Correa. Taken quickly but there’s no appetite to get it into the box straightaway. Atletico play the ball about patiently and then, when it does reach the area, Filipe Luis is offside.
Updated
80 min: Colak’s delivery is wasteful and cleared at the near post. They haven’t had, and won’t have, many of those.
80 min: Dangerous free-kick for Depor on the left now, as Luisinho outfoxes Gabi and draws the foul...
78 min: Not a lot happening at the moment. A bit of a fizz has left Atletico. As long as they don’t do anything really daft now, they might want to keep something in hand for Bayern.
75 min: But hello. The visitors have an ace up their sleeve and it’s one Ryan Babel. He replaces Navarro....
Updated
73 min: Will Atletico go for more now? Now that the elastic has snapped on Depor’s resistance, you’d think there might be more up for grabs if they want them.
Goal! Atletico 1-0 Deportivo (Griezmann 70)
Had to happen, and had to be him. Gameiro does well, taking a cute Juanfran pass down by the right byline, zipping the ball across sharply and setting up Griezmann, who jabs home from in front of goal and that is surely now that.
68 min: Defensive midfielder Mosquera replaces Guilherme now for Depor, who need all the fresh legs they can get.
67 min: All this said, my man of the match currently would be Albentosa – has not missed a beat at the back for the away side.
66 min: Depor facing a barrage of crosses, switched angles, dinks and lofts at the moment – and somehow getting there heads or limbs on everything. Can this really last though? It’s desperate stuff now.
63 min: Correa wriggles into the box in the inside-right, and his low cross is cut out. Atleti win a corner and Simeone gees up the crowd with windmill motions. The flag kick is worked down the left and it’s chipped into the middle where nobody can quite head it home.
62 min: This is very much going to be attack vs defence now. Even more than it was already.
61 min: A Depor change now. The bustling striker Andone has got through a lot of work and Luisinho, a left-back (!) replaces him.
59 min: Carrasco, who’d really livened up, is surprisingly replaced by Kevin Gameiro.
58 min: It’s mainly Atletico though and Lux saves well again ... twice! First from an angle as Carrasco gets free and then, moments later, he flings himself to his left to deny, I think, Gabi. Then Filipe Luis, his first touch manufacturing a clear sight of goal, drag wide! So many chances.
Updated
56 min: Depor exert some mild pressure, with a free-kick that wins a throw by the corner flag. Colak is booked for, I think, making to take it and then timewasting. They work it nicely down the right though, and the ball’s crossed in and nodded back ... and it’s Lucas who has to make a last-ditch intervention to prevent a surprise Depor opener!
53 min: Woodwork! That’s very, very close from Carrasco, who runs the ball across the edge of the box from left to right, thuds one inside the near post ... and in fact it’s an absolutely marvellous save from Lux, who somehow gets a finger to the ball and tips it onto the bar! This is becoming a siege.
52 min: And Juanfran, again, has a baffling amount of room after a superb ball by – I think – Gabi but he skies his attempted volley across goal.
52 min: Juanfran has a surprising amount of room to turn and cross inside the box but it’s a bit high to give Griezmann much chance. He loops his header in the vague direction of goal nonetheless, but Lux grabs it.
50 min: Gaitan gets an early shot away at the other end but drags wide. Fernando Torres is warming up...
49 min: Dangerous moment from Deportivo as Albentosa retrieves a half-cleared free kick and crosses really well from the right, but Lucas heads away with two men lurking.
47 min: Atletico nearly sort it out nice and early, Juanfran drilling in a shot that Lux cannot hold and Griezmann, who snaffles up the rebound, is correctly given offside.
Peeeeep! Second half underway
It is, needlessly, 11 v 10 – so how long can Depor hold out? They kept Depor waiting for a couple of minutes before coming out. I’m sure that was accidental.
Half-time: Atletico 0-0 Deportivo
Well, a perfect away performance from Depor until they started to get carried away in the last few minutes. A couple of rushes of blood later and off went Fajr. A generally insipid Atletico, who should have scored through Griezmann but haven’t created loads more, now face 10 men for the second period, although they’ve lost two of their own to injury. Be right back.
Red card! Fajr (Deportivo, 45+1)
Now that’s a gamechanger and that’s really stupid. Fajr barges Gaitan, it’s a second booking, and what was all going so well for the visitors now becomes an uphill battle for the second half.
45 min: But, ooooh, that’s naughty from Andone and Atletico are irate. He goes up for a header with Lucas, but doesn’t actually go for the header at all. On the replay it’s clear that he’s looking purely at the man, not the ball. How on earth was he not booked for that?
44 min: All very midfieldy in this last couple of minutes. Atletico, so far, will be delighted with this. It’s very easy to see how they’ve drawn their other two away games 0-0.
43 min: Yellow card now for the new boy Hernandez, whose first action is to clean out Borja, who was on the charge midway inside the home half.
41 min: Not bad from Depor there, with Fajr swinging in a right-sided cross that Borja, running in from the left, jumps and only just misses. Then Atletico counter and Gaitan threads in Carrasco down the middle, but the ball is cleared for a corner that is wildly overhit.
40 min: Godin storms forward in open play and hopes to get on the end of a Gaitan raid, but the first defender clears. He does make it onto a second delivery, and is wrongly given offside, but the header wasn’t causing Lux any trouble anyway.
39 min: Koke is flattened by Faycal Fajr deep inside his own half. Yellow card; his studs were showing. No hat-trick of injuries here, thank goodness.
38 min: Griezmann gets his head onto a Luis cross, and so does Arribas. Goal kick, much to the crowd’s annoyance.
36 min: So 20-year-old defender Lucas Hernandez enters the fray. Not been a good half for Atletico so far, in sum.
35 min: And I think we might see Atletico lose another player here. Gimenez pursued Andone, seems to overstretch and this time it’s a groin injury. Everyone’s doing that twiddly “sub!” sign, and the defender will leave the field. What a double blow with Bayern in wait...
Updated
35 min: Every Depor player behind the ball just now. But, those two chances apart, not enough inspiration from the home side.
32 min: The flag kick is cleared, but the pressure is still on. Juanfran crosses again from the right but goalkeeper Lux is out to take.
31 min: Correa turns neatly and finds Gaitan, who in turn looks to slip in Juanfran, and it would be a nice move were the pass not undercooked. The ball stays alive though and the ex-Derby defender Albentosa concedes a corner...
29 min: The lively Andone wins the ball down by the left byline but is thwarted by Gimenez. Depor now getting on the ball a little after that Atletico surge.
27 min: Emre Colak has a long-range pop for Depor at the other end, but Oblak takes it. I think the pattern of this game has finally been set though.
25 min: Then Gabi gets onto a corner but volleys over. He’s rolled his entire team’s sleeves up, it seems.
24 min: And they’re getting closer now! Gabi, who has upped the tempo for Atleti after coming on, finds Gaitan and he lofts past the keeper ... but it’s nodded off the line at full stretch by Laure!
Updated
21 min: ...Atletico come again and Carrasco, foraging inside, slips in Griezmann with a lovely reverse pass and the striker really should score! He’s clean through but, on his left side, drags a foot wide of the far post. First chance of the match!
21 min: Koke finds a pocket of space for the first time, really, and runs towards the Depor area but is dispossessed before he can make room for a shot, and then...
19 min: Fernandez leaves us on a stretcher. We wish him well. Looked as if he overstretched there. On comes Gabi.
18 min: There’s an Atleti player down – I think it’s Fernandez, and I think he might have done his knee...
16 min: It’s all a bit slow, still, from Depor and no real attacking moments except for that Luis ball across the box. Passes – including one there from Correa – are being snatched at and running out of play, although a replay shows he should possibly have had a corner. Simeone, very animated already, is getting angry about perceived Depor timewasting and gets a warning from the official. He seems to be a man in a hurry.
13 min: Faycal lines up an angled volley for Depor but Filipe Luis blocks before it can get anywhere near the target.
Updated
12 min: Depor look strong and disciplined in grouping behind the ball. Atletico are hurrying one or two things, although they probably have the right idea in trying to use the width quickly. Good test, this, for a side that looks a little more front-footed on paper this term. The wiles of Gaitan could be important here, you sense.
10 min: Atletico win their first corner and it’s Godin, I think, who gets up as he so often does. This time, though, he’s well off target.
9 min: Baffling that Filipe Luis couldn’t cut it – apparently – at Chelsea, isn’t it? He’s very much involved early on. Meanwhile Koke tries a clever diagonal pass to Carrasco but it runs beyond him. Already, Simeone doesn’t look too happy with Atletico’s tempo.
Updated
7 min: Andone breaks across halfway and sets up a Depor attack – they’re getting numbers forward on the counter – but Atletico win it back. Depor showing a bit of early intent though.
4 min: Now Atletico show, and Filipe Luis makes space before putting across a sumptuous delivery that’s just too far ahead of Griezmann in the six-yard box. At his sharpest, I reckon the striker might have got there.
Updated
3 min: Strong early run from the lone Depor striker, Andone, but Juanfran comes across and sorts that out. Andone has fallen awkwardly, but will carry on.
1 min: Atletico, remember, play Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week – so they’d probably like to get this one sorted quite quickly.
Peeeep! Referee Gil Manzano gets us underway
Atletico are shooting right to left as per my teevee...
A pre-match boost for Diego Simeone, by the way – his son, Giovanni, has just scored his first goal for Genoa in Serie A! They lead Pescara 1-0.
Ok, kick-off is close. Do write in with your hopes, fears and dreams for this one...
Want to remind yourself of that Atleti performance at Barcelona? Sid Lowe’s excellent piece is required reading:
More on Depor’s goalscoring problems: they’ve netted just once in their last four league games. Looks like a 4-5-1 ish setup from them here; expect they’d be glad for a point, to be honest. The onus will be on Atletico; not always how they have liked it in recent years, but there’s plenty of creativity in the side this season.
Ryan Babel on one bench, Fernando Torres on another. Imagine the stories.
Teams
Atletico: Oblak, Juanfran, Godín, Giménez, Filipe Luis, Koke, Augusto, Carrasco, Gaitán, Griezmann, Correa. Subs: Moreira, Vrsaljko, Lucas, Gabi, Thomas, Gameiro, Torres.
Deportivo: Lux, Laure, Albentosa, Arribas, F.Navarro, Guilherme, Borges, Borja Valle, Emre, Fayçal Fajr, Andone. Subs: Tyton, Juanfran, Mosquera, Marlos, Luisinho, Gama, Babel.
Hello again
Second instalment of our La Liga double bill, so what have we here? The onus is on Atletico Madrid here, with Real having dropped another two points, to win and move just two behind them – keeping themselves firmly in the title race. That draw at Barcelona in midweek can’t have done Diego Simeone’s boys much harm; they just need to start racking up the wins now, as they aren’t losing many ... or indeed any.
On paper that should be a reasonable ask against Deportivo, who lost to Leganes at home last time out. Deportivo have drawn both of their away games 0-0, though – so perhaps they’ll be a tougher nut to crack than we think. Stay right here and we’ll find out just how robust they are. Fire your emails and tweets in to the addresses above, by all means.
Nick will be here shortly.
