It was an almost certain symbol, but it had to be marked. Perhaps the players wanted to give that 1 to their coach after his recent renewal to complete the full team at 15. There are fifteen consecutive victories at home in the domestic championship. The first time it happens in red and white history.

“Regularity is the most important thing. Girona is playing very well, it's nice to see them. Real Madrid and Barcelona are there as always. La Real does not have the points it deserves, but it plays well. “It's a very competitive season,” Diego Simeone highlighted at the end of the clash against Villarreal that his team won by three goals to one.

You have to go back to February 2023 to remember the last points that escaped the Metropolitano. Quique Sánchez Flores' Getafe was the rival that managed to get two points after tying with a penalty from Enes Unal in the last minutes of the match.. Since then: Athletic Club (1-0), Sevilla (5-1), Valencia (3-0), Real Betis (1-0), Almería (2-1), Mallorca (3-1), Cádiz (5 -1), Osasuna (3-0), Real Sociedad (2-1), Granada (3-1), Real Madrid (3-1), Cádiz (3-2), Real Sociedad (2-1), Deportivo Alavés (2-1) and, the last, Villarreal (3-1).

The closest streak dates back to 2012. The team linked 14 consecutive victories between that year and 2013. The difference is that the red and white home was another. At that time, although the tenant of the bench was also Simeone, the house was Vicente Calderón. On that occasion it was Real Sociedad that defeated the rojiblancos 0-1.

We recover the 15, which will be the years that Simeone will sit on the Atlético de Madrid bench if he fulfills the contract he signed this week. A contract that is a joy for the entire rojiblanco dressing room and especially for Griezmann, who also made an appointment to talk about his with Gil Marín despite the fact that his contract ends in 2026.. “Antoine has a present and future with the club and I hope he continues to accompany us,” Simeone asked.

Griezmann about to score the second against Villarreal. THOMAS COEX AFP

The Frenchman wants to be remembered in this club and every day he takes one more step. With his goal against Villarreal, he tied with Adrián Escudero as the club's second top scorer with 169 goals and the Argentine coach was already being asked if he would be one of the best players in red and white history. “Comparisons are not good. Antonie will remain in the history of the club and is the reference for the team's game,” he conceded..

The last 15 of the night is the one that Atlético broke with their victory. In the duels between the red and white and the yellow, there was maximum equality with 15 games each won and 14 draws. With last night's 3-1 it is now 16 for the colchoneros.

The comeback began with Witsel, with his first goal as a red and white player. The Dutchman, after completing a great pass from Griezmann, pointed to the sky. “I'm happy and sad because this morning I lost my grandmother. It's been a long time since I scored a goal and I wanted to dedicate it to her,” confessed the Dutchman.

Atlético maintains the pulse with those at the top and remains fourth with 28 points with one game less, which will be played on December 23 against Sevilla, which is not at its best. Neither is Villarreal, the yellows are fourteenth with just one victory in the last 5 games. They are waiting for Marcelino to try to straighten the submarine's course.

A long shot from Rakitic gave Sevilla the tie against a Betis team that played better, but could not convert its dominance into goals.. “Directive, resignation” was the farewell song of Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán after the final whistle. [Narrative and statistics (1-1)]

Isco, with a header, and Guido Rodríguez, tested Dmitrovic in the first three minutes of the game. Sevilla responded with height, with Rakitic stepping into the rival area and Lucas Ocampos fighting for all the balls. The match started intense, clean and even. With an unexpected and cumbersome beauty.

Isco asked for the spotlight and his talent unevented the clash. Diego Alonso's men, for not changing their custom, were unable to finish the plays. Never has so much pressure generated so little danger. Fran Vieites, the reserve team's goalkeeper who started after the injuries of Claudio Bravo and Rui Silva, barely stained his gloves in the first half.

En-Nesyri was shipwrecked in the rival area and Óliver Torres did not give sanity to what was only self-absorbed verticality. Betis, much more practical, did flirt with the goal. In the 34th minute, a magical pass from Isco to Miranda froze the Sánchez-Pizjuán. The winger arrived in time and shot low, but Dmitrovic took a providential foot at the last moment.

Where Pellegrini wanted

The break came with the green and white team more organized and harmonious. Marc Roca and Guido Rodríguez provided solidity and Ayoze and Isco provided the unpredictable. Meanwhile, Diego Alonso waved his arms on the sideline and looked at the grass like someone watching a David Lynch movie on television: Very attentive, almost fascinated, but without understanding at all what was happening inside.. Sevilla was grateful for the refreshment.

The Nervionenses were more energetic in the early stages of the second half, but Ayoze soon calmed the enthusiasm by sending a ball to the post. A few minutes later, the canary again worried the red and white fans.. He squirmed on the cheek of the area and ended up shooting with power. Dmitrovic, well positioned, repelled the shot. In the absence of goldsmithing, Gudelj tried to contain the visitors with distant and harmless shots. The encounter was where Pellegrini wanted it.

The mistake of Dmitrovic

Lukebakio replaced Torres. Abde and Abner entered for Diao and Miranda. The hosts wanted to liven up the game, the guests just cradle it, maintain the cadence, make it definitively theirs. But it was Dmitrovic who paved the way to victory for the Green and Whites. In the 71st minute, Isco crossed into the small area. Dmitrovic went for the ball badly, troubled, with a fist, softly, and left the ball dead at the feet of Ayoze, who had an easy time scoring the goal.

In the absence of architecture, Sevilla found Rakitic. Enraged, he tamed a ball on the outskirts of the area and shot with conviction and pride. The ball was approaching the net and away from Vieites, whose stretch was insufficient. The Croatian celebrated the goal angrily, with fierce relief. The tie, which was instantaneous, resurrected the stands.

Sevilla closed well and Betis no longer had the muscle to do any more. The tie was worth the away team and, given the game, it was enough reward for the home team.. Pelligrini's satisfaction made Alonso's performance pale, who still hasn't won in the League with Sevilla.

A great performance by Holger Rune in his debut in the masters tournament was not enough to neutralize Novak Djokovic, who won 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1) and 6-3, in three hours and four minutes, achieving his first victory in the Red Group and ensuring he concludes for the eighth non-consecutive year as world number 1. It was just the beginning of the tournament, but it could well have been a direct fight for the title. A generational confrontation with all the accessories of the parties that leave their mark. Rarely throughout the season has Nole been seen as demanding as on this Sunday night, already early on Monday when the curtain fell.

More physically whole, despite his 36 years compared to his rival's 20, who needed attention from the physiotherapist after the third game of the third set, Djokovic carried out one of those matches that will fuel his pride even more. He had to show off all his experience, the incombustible courage he possesses and the precision in the climactic moments to get rid of the Dane's commendable rebellion.

The match began with Rune's winning return on the first serve, but that first set ended in a similar way, this time with Djokovic's crossed forehand. Beginning and epilogue consistent with a magnificent match in which the intrepid candidate stood up to his opponent from start to finish, whom he had already defeated twice, although he had recently fallen in Paris-Bercy. It is not enough to play very well to beat Nole; You have to tune in at the right moments, mark distance in the spaces and times where he usually moves with singular skill.

More stable

There is, in any case, a change of attitude in Rune, who, in addition to being brave in his approaches, maintained an unusual stability. His association with Boris Becker, vigilant and active in his corner, leading his team since the Basel tournament, will have something to do with it.. The Dane gained a serve advantage in both sets, but saw it replicated immediately in both cases. He knocked out a very erratic Djokovic in the second tiebreaker, but could not keep up the pace in the outcome.

No one has won the ATP Finals seven times and Djokovic intends to do it. Nobody has finished eight years at the top. The Serbian has few barriers left to break, after winning his twenty-fourth Grand Slam title in New York and putting himself on par with Margaret Court, with Rafael Nadal already two majors away. In his sixteenth appearance in the tournament that brings together the eight best players of the season, he also presented himself as seven-time champion of Paris-Bercy, the tournament where he catapulted to 40 Masters 1000. This victory against Rune looks like another not inconsiderable credential against how much remains of the tournament.

The difficulties of Barcelona, which won its seventh league game by the minimum against Alavés, did not affect the spirit of Xavi Hernández, reluctant to self-criticism and determined to look for a new enemy. “What the press says affects the team's game, because negative scenarios are generated that are not real,” explained the Barça coach during the press conference after the 2-1.

The 71% of Barça possession against a rival that had only added two points as a visitor in six league games, barely translated into 11 shots and two corner kicks. However, Xavi ignored the difficulties of his attack to generate danger and preferred to point out to the journalists. “When I talk about the environment I am not referring to the fans, but to the press, which is very exaggerated. “The criticism from the press affects the footballers and that's why we don't play as well.”

“It is not normal that we do not see the best versions of our footballers because they do not play liberated,” he analyzed the alleged difficulties faced by Fermín López, Lamine Yamal or Pedri, starters against the Vitorians, although far from their best version. “This affects, especially the youngest ones,” he added after a duel where his players ended up asking for the time.

“More tense than normal”

In the opinion of the former Spanish international, his players play “more tense than normal, due to everything that is generated outside” their environment. To these difficulties we had to add the 0-1, the work of Samu Omorodion when barely 18 seconds of play had elapsed. In fact, the reaction could only materialize in the second part.

“At half-time I told them to be calm. They also told me that it was Barça's cancer and here I am, as a coach,” Xavi stressed in the press room of the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. After Mateo Busquets' final whistle, the tone did not change too much in the locker room. “I was kind to the players, because they needed more love than criticism.”

The only moment in which the former Al Sadd coach took aim at his squad was when he admitted that the improvement compared to recent performances against Real Sociedad and Shakhtar Donetsk had been “minimal”. “Winning without being good also shows that the team has character and faith,” he concluded after the ninth league victory of the season.

An exceptional match at Stamford Bridge, full of intensity, goals, errors and alternatives, closed with a penalty goal from Cole Palmer in the fifth minute of added time. The young midfielder saved a point for Chelsea against Manchester City, the club where he trained for 15 seasons. A tie with which Pep Guardiola's team remains at the top of the Premier League, ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal. [Narrative and statistics (4-4)]

Under the London rain, the last chapter of the show was signed by Palmer, with formidable aplomb against Ederson. “I had to wait a long time, but I felt confident. “I stayed focused and calm,” admitted the England Under-21 international.. “It was very strange to play against them for the first time,” added the great protagonist, very precise from 11 meters after the resounding penalty committed by Ruben Dias against Armando Broja, substitute for Moisés Caicedo just five minutes earlier.

The tie is a respite for Mauricio Pochettino, coach of the blues, who puts his team in the top 10 of the league after 11 points in the last six days. And City, who had won the last six matches since the 2021 Champions League final, took the initiative midway through the first half.. A grab by Marc Cucurella on Erling Haaland was enough for the Norwegian to easily beat Robert Sánchez from 11 meters.

“I don't forget that it was my club”

The visitors' advantage barely lasted five minutes, because Thiago Silva, 39, imposed his aerial power after a corner kick taken by Conor Gallagher. The delirium of the home fans multiplied shortly afterwards, when the omnipresent Raheem Sterling crowned a cross from Reece James. In the action, Josko Gvardiol, City's star signing, was identified as ineffective against the English full-back. “Scoring is always something nice, although I don't forget that City was my club,” Sterling explained when asked why he didn't celebrate that 2-1.

Just before the break, in the first minute of added time, Manuel Akanji restored equality with a good header, after an assist from Bernardo Silva. By then, the fast pace and exchange of blows had already conquered neutral fans.. “We played at the pace that best suited them.. They are better in quick transitions, because they are faster and stronger. We tried to play our game, but it cost us,” Rodri admitted.

Rodri's self-criticism

And as soon as he returned from the break, Haaland put City ahead again, with his thirteenth goal of the season in the Premier. With no time for a truce, Pochettino took his risks by bringing on Mykhailo Mudryk instead of Enzo Fernández. Perhaps spurred by their recent 1-4 against Tottenham and forgetting their scoring drought in September, Chelsea once again established equality thanks to an action by Nicolas Jackson.

City, who had already lost away to Wolverhampton and Arsenal this season, believed they were winners in the 86th minute, with a shot from the front by Rodri. The ball, deflected by Thiago Silva, an impossible trajectory for Robert Sánchez. When the citizen fans were celebrating the most, Dias' clumsiness arrived and Palmer's final 4-4. “It wasn't our best game. Individually we needed to do a little more, because conceding four goals is not normal for us,” Rodri concluded.