Atletico's academy graduates strike in shutout win
Atletico Madrid sealed a confident 2-0 win over Valencia at Mestalla, with academy graduates Iker Luque and Cubo scoring on their debuts.
Keeping Atletico's upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal in mind, Diego Simeone made wholesale changes, naming a side that did not feature any of the starters from the first leg against the Gunners.
After a cagey start, Nahuel Molina nearly scored a stunner from just in front of the centre circle, drilling a powerful dipping effort past Stole Dimitrievski and straight on to the crossbar.
Valencia struggled to progress the ball into Atletico's final third from there, despite having more possession in what turned into a very stop-start affair.
Rayane Belaid twice failed to find the target after being teed up by Molina, while Jose Gaya sent a header high and wide off Javi Guerra's corner at the other end moments later.
Atletico left it late but eventually broke the deadlock in the 74th minute as 20-year-old Luque lasered a smart effort past Dimitrievski at the near post just 10 minutes after being introduced off the bench.
Fellow substitute 18-year-old Cubo then emphatically sealed the result eight minutes later, neatly collecting Antoine Griezmann's clever throughball before firing low into the near post, with the goal awarded after a video assistant referee (VAR) review.
Simeone was full of praise for both his younger players and more experienced starters, but made sure to acknowledge Atletico Madrid B team coach Fernando Torres after the victory.
"There was Cubo’s quality, I made it clear to him what we need to get the best out of a player like him, and Iker is exactly what we saw," he said.
"These lads are Fernando Torres’s doing, not ours, it’s a reward for Atletico Madrid.
"It doesn’t surprise me. When you’re at Atletico, you have to have these qualities. And if they don’t show up, you have to demand them.
"Against Sevilla we didn’t deserve to lose, against Elche we started well but were let down by the sending-off, and then this one.
"The youngsters responded very well, and so did the experienced players. We need these sort of players."
