The race was already over for Atlético Madrid when manager Diego Simeone chose to bring in his top scorer Alexander Sørloth after half-time against Villarreal. – The world’s highest paid manager, who has not decided on his future yet after a decade at the club, chose not to start with the Norwegian striker despite the fact that 3rd place in La Liga was within reach.
The visit to the Estadio de la Cerámica revealed an awkward Atletico Madrid completely unwilling to fight.
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Top scorer without full confidence from the manager
All five major leagues had the end of the season so the focus was fortunately for Alexander Sørloth who wants to move on, to a club that actually invests in him and does not use him as some kind of super reserve.
Sunday’s game was also the farewell game for French superstar Antoine Griezmann who will make the difficult journey across the pond to MLS next season.
Atlético Madrid could have secured third place in La Liga with a win over Villarreal in the last league round on Sunday night. It didn’t work out that way.
Villarreal led 3-0 after just 40 minutes. Dani Parejo, Ayoze Pérez and Georges Mikautadze were responsible for the goals that sent the home side into a three-goal lead. Just before half-time, Marc Pubill put in a reduction that gave the visitors from Madrid a little hope.
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Alexander Sørloth started the game on the bench, but got the chance in the last 45 minutes against his old club. However, it didn’t help much for Atlético.
Instead, Villarreal scored two more goals, eventually winning 5-1 and taking third place in the Spanish league themselves.
How La Liga ended
Barcelona won the series ahead of Real Madrid, while Atlético Madrid had to settle for fourth place. It still provides qualification for the Champions League for the “eternal third”
Top scorer despite limited playing time
Despite starting only 20 of 38 games, Alexander Sørloth became Atlético’s top scorer in the league. The 30-year-old from Trondheim scored 13 goals – the same as Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski. Thus, the Norwegian delivered another solid season individually, even though the team failed in the final.
May be on the way away
In the past week, Spanish media have reported that Atlético are willing to sell the Norwegian World Cup striker this summer – the price tag is said to be around 30 million euros.
English Everton, Italian Como and AC Milan are among the clubs that have reportedly shown interest in Sørloth. The question is whether he will get revenge for the 5-1 thrashing – in a new shirt.
