Atlético de Madrid B returned empty-handed to Madrid from Villarreal's Ciudad Deportiva José Manuel Llaneza. Despite Niño's opener to put the Red-and-white reserves ahead in the 7th minute with a shot inside the box.

The home side equalised through Quintero on minute 30, and after the break it was Villarreal B who made the most of their chances, with Etta Eyong scoring a brace (64' and 80'). Atlético did not give up and fought hard until the end, although Rayane's inspiring goal (90') was not enough to earn a point.

“A game to learn from. A game to put our feet on the ground again. A great game between two reserve teams, with a lot of quality on the pitch. We saw some great players who enjoyed the game. They had more punch and were stronger when they had to defend,” said Fernando Torres.

Las palabras de Fernando @Torres tras el #VillarrealBAtletiB  pic.twitter.com/T3YCUszEGP

— Atleti Academia (@AtletiAcademia) November 24, 2024

“We played a good game, it didn't help us to get the win, but we have to highlight the team’s performance. We will analyze and see if it's something we can use to grow and be better. It's a defeat that has to help us. Obviously the plan today was none other than to get all three points,” he added.

Finally, the coach encouraged his players to continue improving, after an impressive ten-game unbeaten streak: “We have to keep going. The team is doing well and the feeling is that we have had moments in which we could have extended the lead and played more comfortably. We were aware that in defensive tasks we were going to suffer and their goals came from actions that we had to control. They were very good in transitions and we couldn’t get that under control, but anyway we kept trying until the end. So we are happy with the game in general terms, but we have to keep working to improve.”

-        Match stats:

Villarreal B: Iker Álvarez, Budesca, Hugo Pérez, J. Ives Balou, A. Solà, Requena (Brais Val, 86'), Thiago Ojeda, Víctor (Fabio, 75'), Tiago (Rodrigo, (68'), Quintero (Viveros, 68') y Etta Eyong.

Atlético de Madrid B: Iturbe, Boñar, Martín (Carlos Giménez, 46'), Kostis, Spina, Pablo Pérez (Julio, 46'), J. Serrano (Rayane, 73'), Selu Diallo, Ale García (Jano, 73'), Niño y Mollejo (Omar Janneh, 51').

Bookings: Pablo Monterrubio Torres booked locals Thiago Ojeda (62') and Víctor (70'); and visitors Pablo Pérez (37'), Martín (43'), Selu Diallo (59'), Javi Serrano (70'), Kostis (74'), and Carlos Giménez (85').

Goals:

0-1. 7'. Niño.

1-1. 30'. Quintero.

2-1. 64'. Etta Eyong.

3-1. 80'. Etta Eyong.

3-2. 89'. Rayane.