Rafael Mir and the Argentine Angel Correa decided this Saturday the 1-1 draw between the Seville and the Atletico Madrid at Oracle Park in San Francisco, a friendly match marked by multiple scoring chances and the prominence of the goalkeepersthe Serbian Marko Dmitrovic and the Slovenian Jan Oblak.
Atlético and Sevilla signed the tables and, despite the long series of offensive failures, closed their North American tour with good feelings, when missing a week for the start of LaLiga.
Correa rescued Atlético, who had created the main dangers, in minute 84 after Rafa Mir put Sevilla ahead in minute 66 after a defensive error by Montenegrin Stefan Savic.
Atlético returns to Madrid with two draws, against Real Sociedad and Sevilla, and LaLiga will start at home against Granada.
“Now the good part is coming, I hope it will be a great year for us,” said Correa at the foot of the field at the end of the game.
He Sevillefor his part, leaves North America with victory in the derby against Betis (1-0) and draw against Atlético. A LaLiga start with Valencia awaits him now, before playing the European Super Cup against Manchester City.
There was no shortage of scoring opportunities at Oracle Park, but Dmitrovic and Oblak knew how to respond with some great saves to keep the tie 0-0.
Atlético Madrid got off to a strong start and almost went ahead in the 4th minute, when Dmitrovic achieved a double stop shot by Riquelme and Memphis Depay. Sevilla’s Serbian goalkeeper shined again after half an hour, when he denied Carrasco the advantage by repelling his powerful shot from the left side of the penalty area.
And where Dmitrovic did not arrive, it was Atlético to forgive. It was at minute 37 when Depay escaped down the left wing and placed a low cross that Koke sent high when he finished off from the edge of the area with everything in his favor.
Sevilla, with Jesús Fernández ‘Suso’ and Ocampos on the wings, had their best opportunity in a shot from youth squad player Iván Romero that Oblak managed to clear.
Mendilibar gave way to Rafa Mir in the 62nd minute and the former Valencia striker rewarded him immediately. In an apparently safe move, Savic made a serious defensive error and Mir recovered the ball, faced the goalkeeper and defined with his right foot to make it 1-0 for the light.
Simeone looked towards his bench and opted for Lemar, Correa and Morata up front, as well as Samuel Lino on the left wing. His team responded and created a great volume of play and opportunities.
Lino crossed his left foot too much after a good play in the area, and Morata forgave the tie in minute 75 by finishing off a cross, but in 1984 Correa appeared to equalize 1-1 for Atlético after an offensive transition.
The last few minutes were electric and Sevilla had a triple chance to win, after a tremendous turnover by Lemar in his defensive half of the field. Neither Mir nor Idrissi, with a high shot, managed to take advantage of them.
Data sheet:
1. Atletico Madrid:Oblak; Savic, Soyuncu, Beautiful; Carrasco, Llorente, Koke, De Paul, Riquelme; Griezmann and Depay. They also played: Azpilicueta, Morata, Lemar, Witsel, Barrios and Lino.
1. Seville: Dmitrovic; Pedrosa, Gudelj, Bade, Navas; Rakitic, Suso, Jordan; Ocampos, Romero and Torres. They also played: Mir, Sow, Bueno, Gattoni, Juanlu and Salas.
Goals: 0-1, m.66: Rafa Mir. 1-1, m.85: Belt.
Referee: Timothy Ford (USA). He showed yellow cards to Soyuncu, from Atlético, and Jordán, from Sevilla.
Incidents: Friendly match corresponding to the LaLiga Summer Tour played at Oracle Park in the US city of San Francisco.