Atletico Madrid, in their second game since manager Diego Simeone confirmed he intends to leave them for Inter Milan someday, played like a team whose manager had recently said he intends to leave them someday. Villarreal had much less trouble scoring than would be expected against one of the world's best defensive teams.
Villarreal won 3-0. A 3-0 score line is noteworthy because it's just the second time Atletico have given up three goals this season, the first time coming against Real Madrid on November 19. No offense to Villarreal, but they are not Real Madrid. Not even close (although this victory moves the Yellow Submarine above Atletico and Real Sociedad to fourth in the La Liga table).
The game was also noteworthy because one of Villarreal's goalscorers was Mexican international Jonathan dos Santos, who's not normally known for his goalscoring chops.
¡GOOOOL! @jona2santos amplía la ventaja del @VillarrealCF:
VÉALO EN: https://t.co/fa0bHDdcUY https://t.co/v5ygTaBrVE— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) December 12, 2016
That, as you can see, is a goal perfectly suited for a player not known for his goalscoring chops. It is also the type of goal that we rarely see Atletico Madrid's defense give up. Jan Oblak spills a cross he should have handled easily and both central defenders lost dos Santos on the rebound. Well-drilled teams like Atletico should not give up goals like this.
You can't even say Atletico have quit on Simeone. One match is far too small as a sample size to draw conclusions like that. Even if they have quit on him, who could blame them, given he has already announced his intention to quit on them eventually?
