Never in all of Zinedine Zidane‘s time in charge at Real Madrid did the team concede four goals in a single match, yet that is exactly what happened in Julen Lopetegui‘s competitive debut on the Los Blancos bench – with the team’s defence putting in a horror show of a performance.
Every single Atletico Madrid goal in the 4-2 victory came as a result of a defensive mistake for the European champions.
The first came was after just 50 seconds when a lofted pass over the top allowed Diego Costa to take advantage of a poorly positioned Marcelo and Raphael Varane. Costa then fired a powerful shot from an impossible angle past Keylor Navas, further highlighting just why signing Thibaut Courtois was seen as a priority by those in power at Valdebebas this summer.
Marcelo was again at fault for the second goal as the Brazilian flicked the ball back over his head to stop a throw-in being given.
This had disastrous consequences as the ball was put straight back into danger, allowing Angel Correa to put a cross into Costa just in front of an empty net.
Varane and Sergio Ramos had been dubbed as an all-conquering, World Cup winning pairing prior to kick-off, yet they both made a mistake in the build-up to Saul Niguez‘s extra time strike.
It was a thunderous effort, yet the ball could have been cleared so much earlier when Ramos played a lazy pass to Varane in a dangerous area, with the former Lens defender then losing it under pressure from Thomas Partey.
The Ghanaian then put in a sublime cross which found an unmarked Saul, who then fired a volley into the roof of Navas’ net.
It was Carvajal‘s turn to join the defensive error road-show as any hope of a Los Blancos comeback faded with Koke’s side-footed finish.
He lost possession cheaply to Costa and this would hand Atleti a chance to break forward before Koke finished the contest off.
Many expected the majority of Lopetegui‘s problems early on in his tenure to be up front, however his usually solid defence performed poorly in his first match, giving Florentino Perez much to think about before the transfer window closes.
Diego Costa insisted Atletico Madrid are capable of defeating anyone with their desire and courage after upstaging Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.
A brace from Costa saw Atletico to a victory against Champions League holders and city rivals Madrid in Tallinn on Wednesday.
Costa scored the fastest ever Super Cup goal after just 49 seconds in sensational fashion midweek before Karim Benzema equalised 26 minutes later and Sergio Ramos’ penalty put Madrid ahead with 29 minutes remaining in the Estonian capital.
Europa League champions Atletico, however, were not done as Costa struck again 16 minutes later to force extra time, where Saul Niguez’s stunner and Koke’s sealer clinched a seventh title for head coach Diego Simeone.
Speaking afterwards, Spain international striker Costa said: “With the desire and the ‘cojones’ that we have, we can fight against any team.
“It was a victory that we had been looking for a long time, I am very happy.”
He continued: “They won two finals against us, we wanted to win a European final against them. It was very important to get confidence ahead of the season.”
Atletico look well-equipped to win their first La Liga title since 2014, having signed Thomas Lemar, Rodri, Gelson Martins, Nikola Kalinic, Santiago Arias, Jonny and Antonio Adan.
Their biggest off-season success, however, was keeping hold of star forward and World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann amid interest from La Liga champions Barcelona.