Hugo Duro's goals unleash the madness in Mestalla (3-3)

Valencia ties in the extension time and unleashes the madness in Mestalla

F. Estelles/ @siskoestelles

Bordalás' Valencia is proud. The black and white team achieved the equalizer in a very intense match in the second half. A clash that Atleti dominated thanks to goals from Suarez, Griezzmann and Vrsaljko. However, without losing face of the game, José Bordalás' players continued to attack despite being two goals down on the scoreboard in the second half, and after shutting down Atleti, Hugo Duro emerged as the protagonist to sign the two goals for the draw and unleash the madness of the Mestalla fans.

The game started with Valencia very reserved. Timorato, defending with very close lines and conceding the leather and the initiative to Atleti. Without doing anything, those of 'Cholo' Simeone handled the leather comfortably, although it is true that Atleti hardly bothered Cillessen's door against a Valencia more concerned with defending and destroying than looking towards Oblak's goal.

However, the script of the game was truncated for Bordalás when Griezzman appeared between the lines to put the leather on Suarez at the edge of the area so that Charrúa got rid of Diakhaby with a feint and beat Cillessen with a low shot in the thirty-minute five (0-1).

Valencia suffered the blow, unable to put together three passes in a row, against a dominating Atleti and that in the last minutes of the first act liked the ball. In Mestalla the fans resigned themselves to the dominance of the mattresses and waited for the arrival of the second half to see if the black and whites were capable of, at least, competing against the transatlantic mattress.

A step forward

In the second act the Valencianists came out with greater intensity. Valencia advanced their lines, opened the game on their wings and the movement of the ball began to be faster. Just four minutes after the game resumed, a powerful center by Guedes from the right became the tie for Valencia thanks to the shot hitting Savic to throw Oblak off the scent and sign the tie in a lucky play (1-1).

With more conviction, Valencia took the step forward that the game demanded. The appearances of Guedes in the three-quarter line, as well as the rise of Gayá and Foulquier from the wings, made the team begin to live in the visiting midfield. However, everything was cut short when in a positional attack Griezmann stole Guillamón's leather in the dividing line to cover the middle of the field, and from the edge of the area he took a left footed shot that removed the cobwebs from Cillessen's goal squad (1 -two). Jug of cold water in Mestalla.

And the atmosphere cooled down when just two minutes later it was Vrsalijko who beat the Valencian goal for the third time in a play in which Griezmann again filtered into the area so that the Balkan defender finished off in a semi-miss inside the small area and beat for third time to Cillessen (1-3). Bash in Mestalla. Resignation.

Valencia did not lower its arms, continuing to look for the Atleti goal with more heart than success. The stands cooled down, but Bordalás' boys kept trying despite the goal difference and the comfort in which Atleti lived with a two-goal advantage in the electronics.

He shook the Bordalás tree with the changes, and brought in Yunus (for Wass) and Marcos André (for Racic) in the sixty-fifth with the intention of giving the team more oxygen, and not throwing the game away due to the changes so offensive. And yes, Valencia improved at times in a more offensive phase, at the risk of leaving the center of the field more unguarded.

At that time, with fifteen to go, Atleti took a nap while Valencia kept trying. However, nothing seemed to change in Mestalla until Bordalás found the key… And it is that desperately, in 1985 Hugo Duro, Manu Vallejo and Koba Lein entered to replace Costa, Alderete and Soler. There was nothing to lose.

And the magic appeared in Mestalla. After fifteen minutes in which Valencia locked Atleti behind. The changes, the VAR reviews and the injuries ended with the referee Soto Grande giving seven minutes of extension...

Seven magical minutes, seven minutes that are already part of the Valencia epic because in minute 92 Hugo Duro finished off a cross from Gayá's left to cut differences and turn Mestalla upside down (2-3).

With the fans pushing with their souls, Valencia focused on attack and Atleti trembling, a foul on Guedes with a minute to go was going to unleash madness in the Mestalla when Hugo Duro once again finished off the service from the left and unleashed the euphoria and ecstasy at Mestalla, and so on to put Valencia third and equalize a game that seemed lost in the 96th minute (3-3).

Golden point for Valencia. A tie at the horn of the black and whites in a match in which the Bordalás footballers never gave up despite having the match lost in regulation time. Ecstasy in Mestalla thanks to a Valencia that makes up for his shortcomings with heart, soul and never gives up. Puntazo!

3. VALENCIA CF: Cillessen, Foulquier, Omar Alderete (Manu Vallejo, 85'), Gayà, Hugo Guillamón, Racic (Yunus Musah, 65'), Wass (Marcos André, 65'), Carlos Soler (Koba Leïn, 85' ), Hélder Costa (Hugo Duro, 85), and Guedes.

3. ATLÉTICO DE MADRID: Oblak, Trippier (Vrsaljko, 8'), Giménez, Savic, Hermoso, Koke, De Paul (Herrera, 86'), Correa (Kondogbia, 72'), Carrasco, Griezmann and Luis Suárez (Joao Félix , 86').

GOALS: 0-1 Luis Suarez, 35'; 1-1 Savic (pp), 49'; 1-2 Griezmann 58'; 1-3 Vrsaljko 60'. 2-3 Hugo Hard 92 '. 3-3 Hugo Hard 96 '.

REFEREE: Soto Grande (C. Riojano). He admonished Hugo Guillamón, Griezmann, Vrsaljko and Musah.