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| photo by storem | via PhotoRee |
I watched Atleti take on Malaga in the absence of
EPL action Sunday. While it wasn't the match I hoped to be witnessing -- that
one would have pitted a certain team from Manchester against a fourth place
side from London -- it served as an interesting diversion from the snowed-out
schedule (or lack of) that the EPL served up this weekend.
Actually the match
also served as a respite from the horrid football -- NFL style -- that I
unfortunately saw first hand earlier in the day, while watching the Miami Dolphins
host the Buffalo Bills. The Fins managed to run their standard offense
fairly consistently today -- 3 runs and a punt -- on their way to another home
loss in a season that is ending yet again in bitter disappointment and finger-pointing.
Atleti served up a better game, though, with a 3-1 victory that may take some of the pressure off embattled coach Quique Sanchez Flores. Diego Forlan was dropped from the Atleti starting lineup, and Reyes was a welcome return with the warm weather being judged to suit his style better than the last time we saw Atleti -- in their disappointing and snowy mid-week exit from the Europa League.
The sight
of the lush green pitch at Malaga's Rose Garden -- located in the heart of
Spain's Costa del Sol mediterranean vacation land -- was a stark contrast to
the muted brownish-green grass of the English winter. The game's style also
served a harsh contrast to that of its English relative, and seemingly matched
its location, played at the leisurely mañana pace of a land accustomed to
vacationers. Both sides were content in the first half to play languid,
ticky-tack football, with long arcing crosses interrupting the tight,
controlled passes from time to time; beautiful to watch, but a very different
sort of game than that featuring the more direct style preferred in the EPL
(often referred to derisively as "over the top" football).
