Cristian Romero's Late Header Sends Atlético Madrid Past Alavés at Mendizorroza

Atlético Madrid left Mendizorroza with a 2-1 win over Deportivo Alavés, decided by Cristian Romero's 87th-minute header from an Álex Baena assist. Alejandro Grimaldo had put the visitors ahead in the 33rd minute, finishing left-footed from a Jonathan David pass, before Lucas Boyé converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time to send the sides in level.

Atlético ran the match with 68 percent of the ball and 22 shots to Alavés's eight. The hosts set up in a 3-5-2 — three centre-backs, five across midfield, two forwards — and spent the second half pinned inside their own block. Atlético's 4-2-3-1 pushed 375 passes into Alavés's half across the match, 229 of them after the break, and generated 33 touches in the box against Alavés's seven.

The chance count told the same story. Atlético finished with 2.19 expected goals to Alavés's 1.09, and the open-play split was 1.67 to 0.29. Ten Atlético corners to none for the hosts kept the pressure on a back three that rarely got out. Alavés's only route back into the match was the penalty, and their one big chance came from it.

Alavés's 3-5-2 did not simply sit deep — it compressed the lanes Atlético's midfielders wanted to receive in. Six Atlético players were squeezed for space across the match. Ademola Lookman was dispossessed twice and managed 33 touches at a 6.1 rating. Pablo Barrios was also dispossessed twice on 50 touches, and Johnny Cardoso twice on 97. Robin Le Normand and Cristian Romero each lost the ball zero times, but the block still forced Atlético to work around the middle rather than through it.

Marcos Llorente was the exception. He finished with 119 touches, 97.8 percent passing accuracy and an 8.12 rating, repeatedly finding room on the right of the 4-2-3-1 to keep Atlético circulating. Romero's 8.68 rating and 0.69 xG made him the game's decisive individual, and his header finally broke a block that had held for 42 minutes after Boyé's penalty.

The second half sharpened the pattern. Atlético took 74 percent of the ball after the break and out-shot Alavés 13-3, with 19 touches in the box to the hosts' one. Alavés did not register a single second-half shot on target. Their 3-5-2 kept its shape, but the five across midfield spent the closing half-hour tracking runners rather than springing forward, and the set-play threat that had briefly promised an upset never returned.

Atlético's three yellow cards and 14 fouls were the cost of a match they controlled without ever fully escaping. Alavés, with no corners and one big chance, took their point of contact from the spot and little else. The gap between 2.19 xG and a one-goal margin is the detail Atlético will carry out of the Basque Country.