Europa League – Aris Thessaloniki vs. Atletico Madrid
The match started off as the Spanish side Atletico Madrid were visiting the Greek side Aris Thessaloniki. Both the teams weren't really featuring the full sides however they had a lot to play for. Atletico Madrid are currently the reigning
champions of the Europa League while on the other hand, Aris are the Greek side who haven't lost a single game since the past 21 times that a team has visited them.
Aris Thessaloniki were playing their strongest side however their best defender Oriol was on the bench. The goalkeeper was Sifakis who was holding his position tight between the two poles while the defenders assisting him were Guiaro,
Vangeli, Lazaridis and Michel. The formation that they were playing was a simple 4-4-2 and the 2 midfielders that were helping the team by playing from "D to D" were Prittas and Faty. The two wingers that were trying to get the balls in for the strikers were
Mendrinos and Kaznaferis.
On the other hand Atletico Madrid didn't really play their full side and the reason was obvious; they have to face Barcelona at home this Sunday and the game is definitely very crucial for them in the Spanish La Liga. The coach however
played a few key players like Diego Forlan and Tiago. The goalkeeper that stood between the two poles was De Gea; simply a wonderful young talent and another star goalkeeper that Atetico Madrid have created. The four defenders that were assisting him were
Lopez, Valera Godin and Dominguez. The Spanish side were playing a clever formation as the first team wasn't present. They were in Greece and the least that they would want would be a draw and not a loss so they played a defensive midfielder so that the team
can work well with the attacks of the Greek side. Simao and Garcia featured in the midfield while Merida and Camacho were the two players that featured as wingers. Forlan was playing as a sole striker but there was Tiago who was playing right behind him to
help him with the through balls and with the long ranged shoots.
The match started off with the Greek side taking control of the game as they were taking advantage of the home ground and the home crowd. In the 5th minute, they finally made a perfect move into the box but Javito
was the one who rushed the ball a bit too far from him and lost it inside the penalty area as a great opportunity was wasted.
Earlier on everyone thought that the current Europa League Champions would look for an early advantage and score a goal but it was the Greek side that was pushing forward for scoring a goal against the Spanish team. They were looking far
better than the Spanish team and they were attacking for a home goal advantage.
Later it was seen that the Spanish team was gaining its momentum as the FIFA golden ball winner, Diego Forlan pushed forward with the help of Tiago and almost scored a goal for his side but it was too little too late as the "powerful"
bottom corner shot was blocked by Sifakis and the opportunity was wasted.
Later into the game Ruiz was ruled out for the handball and when the 30 minute mark was crossed it was seen that the home side had seen more of the ball. Aris had the ball at their feet for 57% of the time while Atletico Madrid had it
for only 43%. The home crowd kept on cheering for the team and they were really up for the game as the conditions were made difficult for the Spanish side.
After the half hour mark, the reigning Europa League Champions showed the world what they were really made of and they started to attack on goal with the help of their key player, Diego Forlan. However, there was a key man missing in the
Madrid side; Sergio Kun Aguero was not even included in the squad as he was not even a part of the bench while the Spanish team visited the Greek side. This was obviously because of the "tough" match against Barcelona that is going to take place on Sunday.
In the 39th minute, Raul Garcia received a yellow card because of the "nasty" challenge that he made on Pritas. Pritas then made a heavy challenge on Garcia and was given a yellow card as well. Fran Merida was also
booked because of his late challenge on Kleanthis.
One minute of injury time was given to both the teams as the first half was almost close to a goalless draw. It took the Spanish side a lot of time to gain the momentum that they needed but once they were in flow, they started to pressurize
the home side.
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