*This content was translated by AI.
It was truly a struggle. Lee Kang-in (25, Atletico Madrid) unleashed his most aggressive attacking display in Europe with a personal record-high six shots in a single match.
On the 23rd at 0:00 AM (Korean time), Lee Kang-in started in the second round of the 2026-2027 Spanish La Liga home match against Villarreal at Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain, playing for 67 minutes. Atletico secured a 2-2 draw despite the setback of a red card.
On this day, Lee Kang-in was the only one to shine amidst Atletico's somewhat stagnant attacking flow. While the team's forward line failed to control the ball and wingers resorted to safe lateral or backward passes, Lee Kang-in broke through with bold forward passes. His accurate long passes and switching passes to both flanks repeatedly created decisive chances for the wing attackers to face one-on-one situations against the opposing defense.
He especially showed exceptional aggressiveness in shooting. Starting with a right-footed mid-range shot just one minute into the match following Morten Hjulmand's pass, he connected with a left-footed shot from Koke's pass in the 35th minute of the first half. In the 42nd minute of the first half, he received Hjulmand's quick counter-attack pass and unleashed a sharp left-footed shot. One minute into stoppage time in the first half, he received another pass from Koke and struck with his right foot again, threatening the goal four times in the first half alone.
The shooting streak continued even after halftime. In the 4th minute of the second half, he attempted a right-footed shot following Hjulmand's support, and in the 9th minute, he unleashed a powerful left-footed shot from an angle similar to his debut wonder goal against Malaga, but it was blocked by Villarreal defender Juan Foyth's physical defense.
Lee Kang-in fired six shots, his personal record for a single match in Europe. Although none were recorded as shots on target, they were scenes that injected life into the team's sluggish attack.
His chance creation to save teammates also shone. In the 16th minute of the first half and the 8th minute of the second half, he made sharp passes that led Julian Simeone to shoot, earning two key passes. The football statistics specialist 'FootMob' highly evaluated Lee Kang-in's performance over 67 minutes, awarding him a team-high rating of 7.3 points for his 81% pass success rate (25/31), two key passes, and six shots.
Praise from local Spanish media also continued. The Spanish outlet 'El Desmarque' gave Lee Kang-in a rating of 7 points, stating, "He was very aggressive and always aimed at the opponent's goal. He played a key role in accelerating Atletico's attacking tempo."
It added, "Although he couldn't replicate his goal against Malaga, he constantly attempted threatening shots from directly in front of the penalty box."
The match ended in a draw after a fierce back-and-forth battle. Atletico took the lead with a fantastic left-footed mid-range opening goal by Marc Pubil near the penalty box in the 19th minute of the second half. However, in the 21st minute, they conceded an equalizer to Gerard Moreno from a penalty kick awarded after Hjulmand committed a foul.
Immediately after conceding, in the 22nd minute of the second half, Lee Kang-in was substituted off for Pablo Barrios. In the 36th minute, defender Romain Saiss received a direct red card for a foul inside the penalty box. Manager Diego Simeone and Hjulmand were both cautioned while protesting the decision, and they conceded a go-ahead penalty kick goal to Giorgi Mikautadze.
Playing with ten men, Atletico secured a 2-2 draw with a dramatic equalizer by Julian Simeone in the 41st minute of the second half, following an Alex Baena through pass.
Meanwhile, Atletico and Lee Kang-in will face Sevilla away in the third round of La Liga on the 30th.
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*This content was translated by AI.
