Atlético is more leader after coming back against Athletic in the blink of an eye

Atlético had just over five minutes to go to come back against Athletic and establish itself as the leader of the First Division. Everything pointed to the clash of the Metropolitan to reach the break with 0-1, a goal from Muniain, when Llorente beat Unai Simón with his head in the first half stoppage. Luis Suárez, after a naive penalty committed by Nuñez on the Uruguayan striker himself, signed the comeback mattress after the break.

All the good work of the Bilbao team during the first half was ruined in the blink of an eye. The locals, who had suffered during specific phases of the first period, knew how to play their tricks with the score in their favor and prevented their rival from disturbing Oblak's goal. Only a shot from Nuñez near the end of the match put the good Slovenian goalkeeper in some problems.

Atlético is now six points ahead of Barça, the second classified. The people of Bilbao, for their part, remain four points behind the European zone. The mattress trade prevailed at Wanda.

Simeone faced the visit of Athletic with a change in his line-up compared to the team that had just played against Real Madrid. Correa stayed this time on the bench and Joao Félix entered his place. The colchoneros bet this time on a system with a defense of four with Koke in front and the Portuguese and Carrasco, starting at least, open to the band for Llorente and Lemar to play on the inside with Suárez at the top.

Marcelino, for his part, applied another massive rotation, although this time to give entry to nine regular starters. Unai Simón, under sticks, and Nuñez, central, were the only two lions who repeated in a team that recovered Yuri, absent against Granada due to physical problems, for the cause. The Bilbao team was faithful to their classic 1-4-4-2.

The mattresses started better against an opponent without the ability to come out from behind, although practical enough to avoid any dangerous approach to their goal. The visiting pressure was improving in intensity and efficiency with the passing of the minutes and in a greater possession of the ball. Muniain, after a collective combination with two good previous passes from De Marcos and Williams, opened the scoring in the 21st minute. The Navarrese was lucky when it came to hitting the leather against a defeated Oblak.

Carrasco was assuming from there the leading role of an Atlético who little by little regained control of the game. Two long shots from the left-handed inside this time ended up in the hands of Unai Simón. Everything pointed to 0-1 at halftime when Llorente, at Lemar's lateral center, signed the tie after 46 minutes with a header that rebounded off Nuñez and ended up at the bottom of the Bilbao goal. The lions barely had time to get out of the center.

The start of the second half was also fruitful for a mattress team with, now, a clear defense of five. Luis Suárez received a ball in a corner of the Bilbao area and Nuñez knocked him down in a naive and unnecessary way. The Uruguayan forward himself was in charge of transforming the maximum penalty in the 50th minute. His eighteenth goal in this league.

Athletic stretched in search of an equalizer, but Simeone's men became strong behind and kept Oblak's goal out of any danger option. Marcelino turned first to Dani García and later to Victor and Villalibre simultaneously. Simeone had already given air to his team with the entries of Saúl and Correa. Later he retired Luis Suárez to put Lucas Torreira in.

Marcelino, seeing that his team was unable to approach the local goal, completed his changes by entering Capa and Morcillo at the same time. Atlético did not flinch before a willful Athletic, but without arrivals or auctions.

(+) See the summary and the goals of the match: