Celta Vigo 0-1 Atlético Madrid: Player Ratings

Jan Oblak, GK: 8.5 (Mattress Maker of the Match)

Spectacular. The first, second and third reasons as to why Atlético Madrid escaped Balaídos with three points. Made several athletic stops in the second half and looked immensely comfortable doing so. World-class.

Juanfran, RB: 6

Handled himself relatively well until he was matched up with Emre Mor, who really troubled him with his pace. Overall, an adequate 90 minutes from Juanfran, who’s probably at his level against teams like Celta Vigo.

Stefan Savić, CB: 5

Probably deserved another start after his great showing against Barcelona, but this was far from a great showing. Savić’s lack of pace was exposed as the game went on, particularly when Maxi Gómez really should have buried an equalizer only to be stymied by Juanfran.

Diego Godín, CB: 7

Rock-solid. Led all players with six clearances and showed characteristic leadership to guide a wobbly back four across the finish line.

Lucas Hernández, LB: 7

Okay, so Lucas was much more of a third center back than a left back. But he gave Filipe the day off (mostly) and did his job, as we’ve come to expect. Other than some unnecessary fouls, he made several important interventions and was Atlético’s best aerial ball winner.

Thomas Partey, CM: 6.5

Solid, if unspectacular. Thomas completed better than 86 percent of his passes on Sunday, the best mark in the team. Defensively read the game much better in the second half than he did in the first.

Gabi, CM: 5

Not so good from Gabi, who was extremely lucky to get away with a handball in the box mere moments before he was substituted. He was too reckless when going in for tackles and made just one interception. Early returns say Diego Simeone is making the right move by phasing him out.

Saúl Ñíguez, CM: 8

More and more, Saúl is being allowed to go out and do whatever he wants on the pitch. Dribble through hapless defenders? Sure. Deliver accurate long balls? You bet. Lead his team in tackles (3) and interceptions (4)? Of course. He has my heart.

Ángel Correa, FW: 6

Lively as you’d like, and showed maturity by resisting the temptation to foul excessively when forced to defend. However, he’s now gone six games in all comps without scoring and didn’t even attempt a shot Sunday.

Kévin Gameiro, FW: 7.5

Good to see Gameiro back amongst the scorers for the first time in six months. He took his lone chance supremely well by turning and hammering home past Sergio Álvarez from in front of goal. Looked more comfortable and infinitely more dangerous than he did in Azerbaijan midweek, and it was surprising to see him hooked on the hour. Encouraging performance for sure.

Antoine Griezmann, FW: 6.5

Griezmann had a little more service thrown his way during the rare instances when Atlético countered, and he responded with a better display. He generated the corner which led to Gameiro’s goal and narrowly missed doubling the advantage inside the final 20 minutes, when he hit a free header wide.

Nicolás Gaitán, LM: 6

Replaced Gameiro in the 60th minute. Poor moving forward, like most of his teammates, but dug in and dutifully handled defensive responsibilities.

José Giménez, CM: 6

Replaced Gabi in the 66th minute. Didn’t see many touches, but he proved more energetic than the captain and a more natural fit for this game — he essentially operated as an extra center back at times.

Filipe Luís, LB: N/A

Replaced Correa in the 87th minute. Strange substitution, as I’m sure he was expecting to get the day off; Augusto Fernández, who hasn’t played since last September, probably would have made more sense, as Simeone was ostensibly searching for a player who would help sew up the result.