Atletico Madrid 1-1 Valencia: 3 reasons why Los Colchoneros drew the match | LaLiga 2019/2020

LaLiga action resumed after the international break and the biggest fixture of the weekend took place at the Wanda Metropolitano as Atletico Madrid hosted Valencia.

The home side came into the fixture off the back of a disappointing goalless draw with Real Valladolid, and with Barcelona having sent a statement of intent with a convincing 3-0 victory over Eibar earlier in the day, Diego Simeone would have sought to mastermind a victory over Los Che.

However, Atletico Madrid, after holding a one-goal lead for almost 50 minutes of the game seemed set for another routine 1-0 victory, but an 82nd-minute goal by Dani Parejo ensured both sides had a share of the spoils.

The stalemate has dampened Atletico's title hopes and here, we shall be highlighting three reasons why Atletico Madrid failed to win Valencia at the Wanda Metropolitano.

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#3 Profligacy in front of goal from their front two

Morata missed a number of notable chances

Heading into the clash with Valencia, Atletico Madrid had not scored in three of their previous five fixtures and while they might have a reputation of being defensively sturdy, their cause has not been helped by the poor form of their strikers.

Alvaro Morata has not found the back of the net since netting the winner against Getafe on matchday one, while Diego Costa had scored just once in the last eight months for Los Colchoneros.

These are poor returns for top strikers at a club the size of Atletico Madrid and in the game against Valencia, they were made to pay for their profligacy.

Chance after chance was squandered by the pair and even though Diego Costa got his second goal of the season from the penalty spot, it took nothing away from his below-par display and his non-celebration was indicative of his disappointment.

A one-goal lead is never a comfortable scoreline for any team, even one as defensively sound as Atletico Madrid and Simeone was agitated when chance after chance went begging for the home side to confirm the result.

As it happened, they failed to do so and Parejo's late equalizer punished Atletico for their profligacy but they have no one but themselves to blame for failing to take their chances.

#2 Joao Felix's untimely injury

Felix was injured with less than 10 minutes left in the game

Joao Felix was made the most expensive player in Atletico Madrid's history when he was bought for the princely sum of €126m and despite still being a teenager, big things are expected of him.

His start to life in Spain has been less than stellar, but the Portuguese international has still starred with three goals and one assist from 11 matches in all competitions.

Against Valencia, he was deployed on the right of a midfield four and despite having minimal impact on the game, his presence on the field still kept the Valencia defence on the back foot.

However, with 10 minutes left in the fixture, the 19-year-old pulled up with what appeared to be a twisted ankle and was deemed unfit to continue the game.

This put Atletico Madrid in the rather dicey situation of having to see out the remainder of the match with just 10 men, as Diego Simeone had already made use of his three allotted substitutions.

Valencia promptly made their one-man advantage count in the immediate aftermath, with Dani Parejo equalising with a well-taken free-kick.

Though parity was restored with Lee-Kang's late red card for a rash challenge on Santiago Arias, it was too late for Atletico to spring any last-minute surprises and they were made to count the cost of an unfortunate injury to their Portuguese star.

#1 Dani Parejo's exquisite freekick

Dani Parejo equalized with a splendid freekick

Valencia showed great grit to ride out the storm of Atletico Madrid's attacks and although they were largely helped by some poor finishing, their defence also deserves praise for keeping the scoreline at 1-0.

And at 1-0 down, Valencia would have fancied their chances of getting back into the game, as all it took was just one opportunity for parity to be restored.

With 10 minutes left, the visitors got their gilt-edged chance when they were awarded a freekick from just outside the area and up stepped captain Dani Parejo who promptly dispatched the ball into the back of the net past Jan Oblak.

That brought his tally to five goals from just eight games this season and he could have gotten a late winner but for a wondrous save from Oblak right at the death.

Parejo's goal was splendid and is already an early contender for goal of the season and though it was not a matchwinner, on the day, it was enough to give Albert Celades' men a share of the spoils.