Baena's passing was sharp in a seventh straight league win, but Atlético were pinned back after going 2-0 up

Seven in a row, but an edgy finish

Atlético won 2-0 away to Levante, making it seven wins in a row in La Liga. Grimaldo scored on 36 and Giuliano Simeone on 62, and both goals came from Baena's passes.

They were pushed back early on, and on 11 minutes Oblak had to bail them out with a save. They scored two, but Hjulmand on 16 and Hancko in the second half also put the ball in the net, and both were ruled out for offside. Once the second goal was in and the changes were made, it got quite frantic.

The win takes them to 28 points, and for a while it put them top. Barcelona beat Alavés 6-1 that evening, so Atlético are now second, two points off the top. Simeone picked up his 344th win as a coach in La Liga's top flight, drawing level with Luis Aragonés for the most ever.

Baena's passing did the damage

Baena's chance creation was superb. The only assist he was credited with was for the second goal on 62, but before that the ball had already ended up in the net twice from moves started by his passes.

His pass to Hjulmand on 16 was good too. Hjulmand took it down neatly and beat Ryan in the Levante goal, but after a VAR check it was given as offside and the goal was ruled out.

On the first goal, too, Baena's pass forced the mistake. Olasagasti could not quite deal with the ball Baena played through, and Grimaldo finished when it ran loose.

The second goal was a move they had practised

The second goal was beautiful. According to EFE, it took 57 seconds and 19 passes from Oblak before Giuliano scored. Ten of the eleven players touched the ball.

To finish it off, Baena carried the ball out of his own half and slid a through ball from the right into the middle. Giuliano left Nacho Pérez behind for pace, calmly went round Ryan as he came off his line, and put it away.

After the game Baena said: "It's a move we had worked on during the week, we knew it could happen, and it came off perfectly." It came as a surprise to learn that it was something they had deliberately practised. Hopefully they can do it again.

Grimaldo has answered with goals and assists

Early this season Grimaldo came in for criticism for his defending. Against Athletic on 5 September, for example, he could not deal with Robert Navarro for the second goal they conceded.

Lately, though, he has kept adding to his numbers, and that has been great. He opened his account against Real Sociedad on 13 September, and in the seven La Liga games from that one onwards he has scored or set one up in five. He has four goals and two assists in La Liga this season. Two of the four were penalties, and his two from open play came against Alavés and in this game.

The way he strikes the ball is fun to watch. That showed in the opener as well, which he hit hard with his left foot from a tight angle, high at the near post. There were other balls, too, that he struck with vertical topspin.

The issue is the balance late on

After the second goal, Levante had 11 shots to Atlético's one. Atlético blocked six of those 11, and Oblak saved the two that were on target. Levante kept getting their heads on corners and crosses right up to the end.

Simeone said after the game that once it was 2-0 they had needed to defend, and he praised the work of the substitutes Le Normand, Sørloth, David and Lookman. Watching it, though, it did not really feel like they had calmly seen the game out.

The clearest scare came on 67, when a misplaced pass from Llorente let Etta Eyong in one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Even so, I think how frantic it got late on is a problem with the team's balance rather than down to any one player.

Ratings

Starters

Substitutes

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