Learn about our plans and enjoy El País without limits.If you are already a subscriber you can login with your username and password.José María Giménez's Atlético de Madrid rose this Saturday to third place in the qualifying table with a solid victory in San Mamés against Athletic Club from which the colchoneros snatched that privileged position after the two co-leaders of the table, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, thanks to a goal by Antoine Griezmann at the beginning of the second half.It was a move that was born in the Argentine Rodrigo de Paul, who found Álvaro Morata on the edge of the area so that he gave in to Griezmann, surprisingly alone, who finished off with the usual precision that he does against Athletic, one of the usual victims from French.With this victory, Cholo Simeone's men approach three points behind Barça and Madrid before tomorrow's 'Clásico' and leave the Bilbao team in danger of falling from the Champions League positions they have occupied in recent days.Although the clash was always quite even, the truth is that the sensations were better for the visitors and they almost always played what they wanted today in orange against Athletic thicker than so far this year.The second half, moreover, with Atlético ahead on the scoreboard.The party began moved and with many things to comment.The first that Valverde, as he already advanced in the previous one, came out with what was expected, including Vesga, who was kept in doubt by some minor inconvenience for the starting eleven;and that Simeone was betting on a line of four instead of the usual three central defenders of recent times.With that disposition, Atlético starred in the first dangerous arrival, a center by Koke, who beat the back of the local defense, on Morata who cut Lekue to avoid the 0-1.The play was started by Lemar from the left wing.Athletic responded with a dangerous center from the right by De Marcos and a header by Iñaki Williams in which Athletic's '9' showed once again that he is not a typical battering ram.Although the most controversial play at the start was the one that ended in a goal by Morata after getting rid of Yeray's career.Initially, Figueroa Vázquez scored the goal but, after reviewing it on the monitor at the request of the VAR, he decreed a foul on Morata.The doubt, more than about the demolition, which seemed clear, was more about the intention of the visiting striker.That decision made the Atléticos very angry, which cost Simeone a yellow card, and the game, still almost always at a frenetic pace, calmed down in terms of the dangerousness of the plays.That there was hardly until the break.Three blunt shots from the locals, one from Berenguer and two from Sancet.The coaches of the first half should not have been unhappy, since they repeated elevens after the break.As soon as the second half started, Atlético struck a blow that, seen as it was in the first half, became decisive: the first goal of the game.De Paul, angled and almost from the center of the field, found Morata on the edge of the area and the battering ram to Griezmann so that, surprisingly alone, he beat a beaten Unai Simón with great ease and waiting for the Frenchman's shot, smooth and to place, towards the other stick.Atlético became the owner of the game and Griezmann was about to make it 0-2.But this time he failed to put the volley between the three sticks that impaled Molina's center from the right.It was the end of a stretch in which Kondogbia from the edge of the field and an error in De Marcos's ball out staggered Athletic.Curiously, what stopped the visitors was Oblak's injury, who was on the ground twice for several minutes and had to be substituted in the 69th minute due to a shoulder injury.In the 88th minute they were able to change things with a penalty called by Reinildo's hand, which the VAR showed was not, since the Mozambican had cleared the second of the balls with his face that he rejected in a play with three shots from Bilbao.The second for Zarraga and the third for Vivian, in which the penalty was initially awarded.The first was from Íñigo Martínez, from Lekue's corner kick, and he cleared it in a great intervention by Grbic.And Athletic still had one last chance, after a subtle touch by Villalibre on Berenguer.But Raúl García also met Reinildo, a giant in the mattress defense, in a shot clearly destined for 1-1.He did not do it and Atlético snatched third place from Athletic.To comment on the news you must log in with the username and password chosen at the time of registration.If you are not registered yet, you can do so by going to User RegistrationDo not you remember your password?you can access Reset PasswordFrom this point you enter a virtual environment intended for the responsible exercise of freedom of expression.The messages will be instantly visible and will not be supervised by the El País newsroom.It is a self-regulated space for readers, who have mechanisms to report abusive use of it.Zelmar Michelini 1287, CP.11100, Montevideo, Uruguay.Copyright ® EL PAIS SA 1918 - 2022We think you are using an ad blocker and we want to tell you that advertising is one of our ways of generating income for doing journalismIt's usually in the upper-right corner of the screen.You may have more than one ad blocker installed.You may need to select an option from a menu or click a button.