Zaragoza left the Atletico stadium with one point in the debut of the new team under the orders of “Viceroy” Carlos Bianchi. All around the Calderon there was optimism in the air: a new manager, new signings, a good gate … and the team came up to expectations, at least in the first half.

From kick-off, Atletico launched themselves into attack mode, looking for their first goal of the season, and kept their opponents in their own area. Petrov, without doubt the man of the match, demonstrated all of the qualities that brought him to Spain: speed, dedication, leadership and classy precision with his left foot, but it was Mateja Kezman who had the first clear chance of scoring, finding himself alone against goalkeeper Cesar in the sixth minute, but the ball went just wide. Seconds later the Serb was denied his first goal of the season by the crossbar. Fernando Torres could also have scored after an excellent pass from Petrov, but this time it was the visiting goalkeeper who cleared the ball. Meanwhile, Zaragoza who weathered the storm by playing hard, also had their chance when Sergio Garcia, having already beaten Leo Franco, sent the ball into the crowd. Despite the clear dominance of the red-and-whites, there were no goals in the first half … nor in the rest of the match.

After the break, it was clear that the physical efforts of the first half had taken their toll, and Zaragoza took advantage of this to take control of the match and get close to the Atletic goalmouth, in fact they had a couple of clear chances but were not rewarded with a goal. Twenty minutes from the end, Bianchi, looking for fresh legs, brought on Ibagaza and Galletti, but the Argentians couldn’t change the script of a game now facing a draw.


Photo: J. A. Sirvent