Honours even as Valencia and Atletico draw 1-1 at Mestalla

Atletico Madrid and Valencia looked evenly matched on paper and that ended up being the case as neither side could take advantage of their chances to walk away with anything more than a point.

The first real chance fell to Valencia as Rodrigo’s long range shot sails wide of Oblak’s post. Initially it looked as if Oblak had gotten a touch to it but the replay showed he didn’t. It was an early warning for the visitors.

Then it was their turn as Diego Costa worked himself a yard of space on the edge of the box but his shot was rather tame and didn’t truly test Neto. The Brazilian-born Spaniard was frustrated with his effort in a game that was always going to be decided by fine margins.

Koke and Carlos Soler both tried their luck from way out and the results were largely the same: more danger of hitting the linesman than the back of the net.

The non-stop Diego Simeone was warned about rushing out of his technical area to return a ball for a throw-in. He immediately apologised as the referee came over to remind him he couldn’t do that.

One of the two changes to the Atletico line up, compared with the one that started the UEFA Super Cup, was Angel Correa and he rewarded the faith shown in him just before the half-hour mark. Antoine Griezmann had the time outside the area to play a beautiful reverse pass into Correa who coolly slotted it past Neto.

After a water break, the game really began to really open up. First it was Valencia who ruined a fantastic chance to strike on the counterattack. Santi Mina tried to get away but was disposed but it fell to Carlos Soler. He carried the ball forward but instead of putting Mina through straight away, he held onto it, and then overplayed the pass to the striker.

Diego Costa then ran into the Valencia penalty area and only stopped doubling Atletico’s lead thanks to a fine stop from Neto. This was a lot more back and forth than many onlookers expected.

Atletico slowly gained control and Valencia’s threat became non-existent. At the end of the first half Garay accidentally brought down Diego Costa 30 yards from goal. A harsher referee might have brandished a red card as he looked like the last man.

Cue the start of the second half where Garay pulled down Costa on the edge of the box but to his – and Valencia’s – relief the referee waved play on. It was a clear foul though and an unnecessary risk for the experienced defender to take.

Valencia pegged Atletico back but didn’t really threaten Jan Oblak’s goal.

The next big chance fell to Diego Costa. Juanfran produced a ball that the greatest playmakers in European football would’ve been proud of to find Correa in behind Valencia’s defence. He squares it across goal and Costa decides not to launch himself at the ball. It didn’t appear too far ahead of him; maybe the Spaniard just didn’t feel comfortable swinging his left foot at it.

Football can be quite cliché at times. One of the most popular is that if you fail to take your chances, you’ll be punished. So naturally, Valencia equalised soon after.

Kondogbia sprayed the play out to the left hand side to the awaiting Wass. He floats in a fantastic first-time cross to the penalty area where Rodrigo Moreno, the man of the moment, chests the ball down and smashes it beyond Oblak. You would be right to ask questions about Godin, who normally so reliable, as he simply misjudged the flight of the ball.

Mestalla was rocking and Valencia were full of confidence. Gabriel Paulista powered a header onto the post as Atletico began to feel the heat.

Atletico replaced Lemar and Griezmann with Gelson and Vitolo while Valencia gave debuts to new boys Gameiro and Batshuayi with both put up alongside Rodrigo. Neither side was interested in taking just a point from this match.

Valencia’s now three-man attack was leaving gaps in their own defence but they weren’t punished. In fact, the next big chance came when Batshuayi played in Wass, one-on-one, but he couldn’t beat Oblak. Not many can, to be fair. You sensed that was Valencia’s last chance to win the game.

But it wasn’t. Gameiro let fly from the edge of the box but he doesn’t catch it well enough to trouble the giant Serbian keeper. And that was the last chance of the game – for both sides. A draw was ultimately a fair result.