Poor game, vital points: Julián Álvarez scores again for Atlético

Rubén Uría sums up the 1-0 win over Deportivo bluntly: a very poor game, but with two reasons to smile. Julián Álvarez is back, and the table now has Atleti second, two points behind Barça, piling the pressure on Real Madrid.

Straight after the final whistle at the Metropolitano, Rubén Uría delivers his verdict with no sugar-coating: Atlético de Madrid played badly, very badly even, but beat Deportivo de la Coruña 1-0.

Amid the negatives, he highlights two positives. The first is the return of Julián Álvarez, whom he considers by far the team's best player, and who also scored the decisive goal. The second is the three points, which in his view are the best thing about the night given what they mean in the table.

He runs through the standings: Barça lead with 27 points after nine wins from nine games, Atleti are second on 25 and Real Madrid are third on 21. If Madrid lose El Clásico, they will stay four points behind Atleti; if they win, Atleti will be two points off the top. Whatever happens, he concludes, it is a good result for Atlético.

As for the rest, he insists, it was a game that cannot even be described as merely below par: it was very poor.