4-0 before the derby. David scores again in his first start, and Cardoso, in his first competitive start of the season, sets up Baena for the fourth

The 4-0 was about right, and it could have been more

4-0 at the Metropolitano. The opener came on 24: Grimaldo played a one-two with Johnny Cardoso on the right, got into the box and pulled the ball back, and although Jonathan David's shot was saved by Aitor Fernández, he put the rebound in himself. The second, on 54, was a counter that Cardoso started from inside Atlético's own half, with Kang-in Lee taking David's pass and finishing right-footed. On 62 Fernández tipped Romero's effort from range over the bar, and from the corner Le Normand put a right-footed shot into the top corner for the third, before Baena slotted in Cardoso's through ball on 82.

I think 4-0 was about right. Shots were 27 to 3, shots on target 11 to 1, and the xG on FotMob's count was 3.99 to 0.48. They created eight big chances in the first half alone and missed seven, so going in 1-0 up felt like too little. Simeone said the same. "In the first half we had already shown important things, enough to have gone in a goal further ahead than we did," he said, and his verdict on the 90 minutes was that "today I think we had more consistency over the whole game".

Osasuna arrived on a two-game losing run in which they had conceded seven, and they made eight changes to the starting XI and lined up in a 5-4-1. They had three shots all game, and the closest they came was on 13, when Raúl García was one-on-one with Oblak. On 29 Arguibide put the ball in the net, but it was ruled out because the clash of heads between Torró and Le Normand just before it was given as a foul by Torró. Ramis, the Osasuna coach, complained about it in his press conference: "for me it was wrongly disallowed". Atlético made four changes from the Real Sociedad game. Pubill, Hancko, Giuliano Simeone and Hjulmand dropped to the bench, Le Normand, Koke, Cardoso and David came in, and the shape went back to a 4-4-2. It was the first time this season in any competition that Atlético had scored four, and the first time they had won by four.

David was involved in front of goal as a starter too

As a starter he was still involved in front of goal, and effective with it. In 68 minutes his six shots were the joint most in the team, level with Lee, and his eight touches in the opposition box were joint most as well. It was David who put in the rebound for the first goal and David who played Lee in on 54, and he created four chances. The link-up play was there too, the lay-offs included. There were plenty of times when he took the ball with his back to goal and dropped it first time into midfield or out wide.

Before kick-off Simeone had said: "last week it was early to give him minutes from the start. Luckily the other day he had a good 30 minutes, and we feel today is a good opportunity for him to carry on in the same vein." He missed plenty as well. His three big chances missed were the most in the team, and the one on 34, when he took Lookman's pass on a quick break and put it wide to the right, was one he needed at least to hit the target with. On 42, straight after Fernández had saved from Lee, he shot from the right of the six-yard box and was kept out again.

Cardoso, Baena and Lee were the best of them

Cardoso was making his first competitive start of the season, and in 85 minutes he completed 77 of 81 passes, with 17 passes into the final third, the most in the team. "I've had some difficult months after the surgery, suffering with the ankle," he said, "and there was no better way to come back into the team than with this win at home and a clean sheet." Simeone said: "Let him play the way he played today, no more, no less. Let him play the way he played against Real Sociedad the other day when he came on. I think those are the ways for the coach to think about the possibility of him playing in the team." The fourth goal was his through ball in behind after a turn, and the one-two for the first was his as well. His positioning was smart too: while Grimaldo came inside and stayed central, he drifted left to fill the space that had opened up. The touch maps show it as well, with Cardoso's touches leaning left and Koke's leaning right.

Lee had six shots and put four of them on target, and on 54 he took David's pass and put it in from the right of the box into the left-hand corner. He created three chances with his passing as well, so he was in on a lot of chances, shooting and passing.

Baena was receiving in the middle and also doing the job of supplying passes into the attacking third. He created four chances and took the corner for the third goal. He was looking to shoot too, and his five attempts were behind only David and Lee. On 82 he ran on to Cardoso's pass in behind and beat Fernández one-on-one with his right foot. It is his fourth of the season, and after six league games he has already gone past the two he scored in the whole of last season.

Romero is dependable. Le Normand can do more before he ends up chasing back

Romero is solid and dependable. He does not give the ball away cheaply, he waits for his moment, and he can play it forward with the right weight on the pass. His 11 passes into the final third were the most of any defender, yet he hit only three long balls, he completed 54 of 60 passes and he was not dispossessed once. He won eight duels and lost one. Simeone said: "we've been after him for two years now, and he has wanted to come to us for two years as well. He's a humble lad, a hard-working lad, a lad with a lot of personality and stature." The calm he is showing is welcome too.

Le Normand scored on 63 with his right foot, from the left of the box with next to no angle, into the top corner, his fifth goal for Atlético. It was his first league start since his sending-off against Villarreal. The goal is welcome, but in defence there were a lot of moments where he was reacting late and then chasing back. Defending that way leaves you behind when it goes wrong, and I think there is room for him to do better earlier, before he has been caught, so that it does not come to that.

I would pick the left-back for the derby on how I expect the game to go

Sunday's derby will mean dealing with incisive counter-attacks. Real Madrid are second, two points ahead of Atlético, with 17 goals in six games, seven of them from Mbappé. In Simeone's words they are "an opponent that, as you can see, has incredible attacking strength", and this 4-0, he said, has absolutely nothing to do with that game. Madrid have Rodrygo, Militão and Mendy out long-term, and neither side has anyone suspended.

In the back line I would go with Romero, Pubill and Llorente. Whether the left-back is Hancko or Grimaldo comes down to how you expect the game to go. Hancko's six competitive starts this season have all been at centre-back (on the left of a back three when there was one) and he has yet to start at left-back, but he played there in the 5-2 derby last September. In the league this season Hancko has been dribbled past twice and Grimaldo five times, and Hancko has created two chances to Grimaldo's four. Playing it safe, it is Hancko; if the reading is that there will be a few moments to carry the ball forward, Grimaldo is an option too.

Julián Álvarez has tightness in his quadriceps, with no tear, and whether he makes Sunday will depend on how he recovers over the next few days. Barrios is not expected back until after the international break, and Sørloth has just returned to individual work on the pitch. The derby kicks off at 16:15 local time on Sunday 20 September at the Metropolitano. After that comes a three-week break; the next league game is Alavés on Saturday 10 October, and Manchester United visit in the Champions League on Tuesday the 13th.

Ratings

Starters

Substitutes

ItC ratings via Into the Calderón; FotMob ratings via FotMob.