Hoy y siempre, Atlético de Madrid

Empyjob: Thanks.
Tallery: I agree on both but Bernd is not the one to mess with.
Justice: He is!

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The year is 2015, holidays are over and Atlético Madrid approaches January confidently as they sit first place in La Liga, enjoying seven points lead over the Catalonian team, Barcelona. The capital city side has suffered their first loss this season in all competitions following a streak of twenty-four consecutive wins, from the victory at the Bernabéu to the away loss to Athletic Bilbao.

January is a very long and busy month for the team thus we have seperated the review into two parts with each part consist of four games. The first parts include a two-legged tie with Almería in Copa del Rey's fifth round and two games in La Liga, including a trip to Camp Nou to play against home team, Barcelona.

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ATLÉTICO MADRID 7-0 LEVANTE (LA LIGA)
TIAGO, DYBALA (x2), TURAN, MANDZUKIC, RODAS (OG), EL SHAARAWY
ARDA TURAN (9.5)

Atlético Madrid XI (4-2-2-2): Oblak, Juanfran, Godín(C, 87'), Miranda, Siqueira, Tiago(75'), Koke, Turan, Griezmann(66'), Mandzukic, Dybala.
Substitutes: Moyà, Gámez, Giménez(87'), Ansaldi, Saúl(75'), Correa, El Shaarawy(66') Torres.

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Atlético's first game in the month was a home match against Levante and it was nothing but a complete domination of the hosts and a humiliation for the visitors as the Mattress Makers defeated Los Granotas 7-0 with Arda Turan and Paulo Dybala running the show.

The first highlight was in the 14th minute and surprisingly it was not a goal as Mohammed Sissoko recklessly hacked down Paulo Dybala with two feet on the left wing and was shown a straight red card rightfully. Los Colchoneros capitalized on their numerical advantage very quickly and a lucky strike of Tiago to a cross of Griezmann found the back of the net.

The second goal was Paulo Dybala's when he scored from close range and doubled the lead. Atlético did not stop and the third goal arrived seventeen minutes later in the game as a placed shot of Arda Turan hit the net. Levante went down to nine players as Iván saw a second yellow card and left the pitch for an early bath just before half-time whistle.

The game calmed down a bit in the second half but eventually Atlético scored, sixty six minutes into the match, when Paulo Dybala celebrated an own brace with another close-range goal.
Five minutes later and it was Dybala's partner up front, Mario Mandzukic, who tucked in a ball from six yard box after a header of Arda Turan who was responsible for the sixth goal as he shot in the ball however it hit Levante's defender, Rodas, who shifted the ball into the net.
Stephan El Shaarawy rounded up the score to seven on the 87th minute as he seized on a great through ball of Paulo Dybala to half-chip over Levante's goalkeeper.

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ATLÉTICO MADRID 2-0 ALMERÍA (COPA DEL REY)
TIAGO, DYBALA (x2)
PAULO DYBALA (8.9)

Atlético Madrid XI (4-4-2 Diamond): Moyà, Gámez, Godín(C), Giménez, Ansaldi, Romero, Griezmann(72'), Koke(72'), Turan(74'), Dybala, El Shaarawy.
Substitutes: Oblak, Juanfran(72'), Miranda, Saúl, Tiago, Correa(72'), Torres(74').

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Atlético Madrid faced Almería in the 5th round of 2014/2015 Copa del Rey and now possess an advantage to advance to the tournament's quarter-finals, following a 2-0 home win against their opponent. The formation has been used by Bernd Schuster a few times but the eleven were pretty much experimental as Moyà, Gámez, Giménez, Ansaldi were given a chance in the line-up in favor of Oblak, Juanfran, Miranda and Siqueira. El Shaarawy has been positioned up front, along with Paulo Dybala who starred in the clash with a 2nd consecutive brace.

The Argentinian wonderkid and 2014 European Golden Boy scored his first goal in the match when the clock showed seven minutes since the game got underway when he wrapped up an excellent team move with a short distance finish. Los Rojiblancos dominated the rest of the game and managed to put the scoreboard on 2-0 in the 73rd minute with another goal of Dybala.
The 21-years-old has shown magnificent individual skill as he moved past a defender swiftly before netting the ball with a perfectly placed strike.

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BARCELONA 2-2 ATLÉTICO MADRID (LA LIGA)
GODÍN (x2)
ARDA TURAN (9.5)

Atlético Madrid XI (4-2-2-2): Oblak, Juanfran, Godín(C, 87'), Miranda, Siqueira, Tiago(75'), Koke, Turan, Griezmann(66'), Mandzukic, Dybala.
Substitutes: Moyà, Gámez, Giménez(87'), Ansaldi, Saúl(75'), Correa, El Shaarawy(66') Torres.

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Atlético Madrid travelled to Catanlonia region to play against the locals, Barcelona, at Camp Nou in 17th gameweek as Barcelona could drop out of the race for the championship in case of a defeat but can also reduce the gap to four with a victory over the reigning champions.

Godín captained Los Colchoneros in the absence of permanent captain, Gabi, who suffered of a twsited knee and the Uruguayan central defender has performed splendidly with a brace from corners. Despite the heroic performance of Godín, Barcelona came on first on the scoreboard in the 11th minute as a long-range shot of Andrés Iniesta found the net, thanks to a mistake by Jan Oblak.

Barcelona's summer signings, Thomas Vermaelen, scored his team's second goal on the 58th minute when he beat Miranda to head in a corner of Xavi. The reaction of the opposition, Atlético, came in the same form as the second goal of Blaugrana, from a corner. The central midfielder, Koke, crossed a corner into the six yard box and Diego Godín powered a header into the top left corner perfectly.

The game was couple of minutes from being over with a victory of Los Culés however another header of Atlético Madrid's aging defender in extra-time has tied up the match when a float cross of Koke found Miranda in the box who shot it towards the goal but ball was parried by Ter Stegen, only to find Godín's foot who blasted it and equalised dramatically, a definite deva ju from the equaliser last year who made his team the champions. The gap between reigning champions and runners-up now stands by seven points.

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ALMERÍA 0-0 ATLÉTICO MADRID (COPA DEL REY)
VERZA (7.4)

Atlético Madrid XI (4-1-2-2-1): Oblak, Gámez, Godín(C), Giménez(78'), Ansaldi, Tiago, Koke, Saúl, El Shaarawy(56'), Griezmann(61'), Dybala.
Substitutes: Moyà, Miranda(78'), Siqueira, Correa, Turan(56'), Jiménez, Torres(61').

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The second leg of Copa del Rey's fifth round between Almería to Atlético Madrid in Almería's home, Estadio Mediterráneos, saw the visitors advance to the quarter-finals following a goalless draw and thanks to the win at home, the Mattress Makers had won 2-0 on aggregate.

Despite clear domination, Bernd Schuster did not see his players score for the single time this season as Almeria's defensive formation worked out, thanks to decent performances of the goalkeepr and defensive midfielder and Man of the Match, Verza.

Paulo Dybala could and should have scored a goal in the first half when a free-kick of Antoine Griezmann was saved but the ball pounced to him however a double-save of Rubén stopped the goalscorer. Almería had their chance too in the second half but it was Oblak's time to keep the score even a strike of the captain, Fernando Soriano.

The game finished as a goalless draw and Bernd Schuster saw his side advance to the quarter finals of Copa del Rey, where they will face Sevilla in a two-legged tie.

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Player of the Month has been awarded to Diego Godín who captained the team throughout the first four matches of the month in the absence of Gabi and he has done brilliantly with an average rating of 7.9 and sugarcoated it with a brace against Barcelona in the Camp Nou.

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Last update

2015-03-10 05:26#210221 Oz96 : Empyjob: Thanks.

Awesome, I shall now call myself Empyjob always.
Keep kicking butts in La Liga!

Empyjon: I commented from my phone, haha. Thanks and I will!

I am sorry for lack of updates but real life commitments, tight schedule and lack of time hold me off from updating. I hope to be back in the next week or so.