MADRID, 4 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Atlético de Madrid forward Álvaro Morata scored this Wednesday against Girona the third hat trick of his career at club level, the first with the colchonero team, now adding 12 goals so far in LaLiga EA Sports, a figure that he had never reached in his sports career after the dispute of the first round of the domestic championship.
The Spanish international had one of the best individual nights of his career in Montilivi. Morata was the author of the three goals scored by his team, a milestone marred by the defeat suffered against Girona (4-3) in a match in which he also saw another goal disallowed by the VAR for offside. In total, the Madrid striker scored six times against Paulo Gazzaniga's goal, generating 1.5 expected goals.
A great game for Colchonero's '19' that shows the great moment he is experiencing in this first half of the year and facing 2024 where he appears as a key pillar for the national team in the Euro Cup in Germany. In fact, Morata is already the second top scorer in LaLiga EA Sports with 12 goals, just one less than English midfielder Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid).
The 31-year-old player from Madrid scored 13 league goals last year and his record in the First Division is the 15 scored with Real Madrid in the 2016-2017 campaign, so he has it in his power to surpass the always positive figure of 20 , necessary to fight for his first Pichichi Trophy or, at least, his first Zarra Trophy. This is the sixth time in his career that he has surpassed ten goals in a domestic tournament.
Furthermore, in the Champions League he has managed to pierce the rival goal on five occasions, being, along with Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United) and his strike partner Antoine Griezmann, the top scorer in the competition.
Top-level figures that confirm him as one of the best forwards in the world this season. The Madrid native, with 17 goals in 24 games, is the sixth highest scorer of the season in the five major leagues, only surpassed by great scorers such as Bayern's Englishman Harry Kane (25), PSG's Frenchman Kylian Mbappé (22), Manchester City's Norwegian Erling Haaland (19), Stuttgart's surprising Guinean Serhou Guirassy (19) and Liverpool's Egyptian Mohamed Salah (18).
Furthermore, the 12 goals in the Spanish championship are Morata's best record in the first round of his sporting career, surpassing the 10 achieved in 2017-18 with Chelsea in the Premier League. And at continental level, the five goals this campaign already represent his second highest number in the Champions League, the same ones he scored in 2014-2015 when he reached the final with Juventus and one of the six scored with the 'Vecchia Signora' in 20-21, a season in which the Italians were eliminated in the round of 16.
The main differential aspects in Álvaro Morata's performance this season are his effectiveness in front of goal and the confidence that 'Cholo' Simeone is giving him. Regarding success in finishing, the Colchonero has sent 28.3% of the shots he has attempted this season to the back of the net, his highest figure of his career.
In addition, it is also the season in which his percentage of starts is highest. So far, Morata has been a starter in 83% of the games he has played (20 of 24 among all competitions), surpassing the figures of 2018-19 in which it was 78%, between Chelsea and Atlético de Madrid.