The last two Atlético Madrid games have been Alexander Sørloth starting on the bench and then coming in as a kind of super reserve and scoring the winning goal.
Barcelona were well on their way to ending Atletico Madrid’s winning streak of 11 in a row on Saturday, with a goal after the half-hour mark and a bunch of scoring chances. It was still Atletico’s day, thanks to a brilliant substitution of Diego Simeone for a Norwegian match-winner.
It was 1-1 when the Atletico Madrid coach did something he usually doesn’t do. In the 73rd minute, the substitution came.
“It feels so good. It’s a fantastic game to take part in. It’s always tough in Barcelona, because it’s a good team that likes to keep the ball. They don’t give you many chances. We had a very good goalkeeper and we took care of the chances,” Sørloth told La Liga-TV after the game.
The “new top form” (A bit special for someone who last season landed second on La Liga’s top scorers list) is said to have come after Diego Simeone sat down and talked to Alexander Sørloth to get to know each other better.
The world’s highest-paid football manager with a salary of $32 million a year should take the time to talk to his players regularly. Now it is boasting about Alexander Sørloth and the conversation the two had.
On Saturday, Sørloth scored Atlético’s winning goal in injury time in the 2-1 win away to Barcelona. It crowned three of the 15 points he has secured for Atletico with his involvements this season – and also the top of the table.
-We took Griezmann out early, which is difficult for me, says Simeone after the game.
-… but I knew that Sørloth had something in him,” the Atletico coach explains.
The Barcelona players continued to miss alone in front of the Atletico goalkeeper, Alexander Sørloth did not. Six minutes into injury time, Molina’s cross came to an uncovered Sørloth in the box. The Norwegian national team striker showed a wonderful composure and finished perfectly with his left foot.
Absolutely awesome!
The goal gave Atletico Madrid their 12th win in a row, now leading La Liga with 41 points from 18 games.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Sørloth is the king of La Liga!
Sørloth’s matches can be followed on live sports
“It was a fantastic goal”
Atlético’s long-time manager said that in November he had an in-depth talk with Sørloth. At that point, the Norwegian struggled to find the back of the net.
“We had a conversation three or four weeks ago. We couldn’t delay getting to know each other any longer. Had we done that, we would both have wasted six months,” Simeone told Movistar. “We explained to him what I like and my ideas. He understood it perfectly. Especially in difficult times, he is a problem solver.”
One who was clearly also pleased with the Sørloth goal against Atletico was teammate Antoine Griezmann. He took to Instagram’s story feature and posted a photo of the Norwegian winking at the camera with the text “Sorloti!” over it.
The national team striker has scored four of his eight league goals in the last month. Sørloth was brought to Atlético this summer for €32 million after scoring 26 goals for Villarreal last season.
