'Even Lee Kang-in received such an evaluation' Spanish media: "He was shut down by the defense even against 10 men"... Rating also a 'harsh 5 points'

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

South Korea national team 'ace' Lee Kang-in (25) came on as a substitute to contribute to his club Atletico Madrid's victory. However, local Spanish media offered a somewhat cold assessment.

Atletico won 2-1 away against Deportivo Alaves in the 8th round of the 2026~2027 Spanish La Liga, held on the 10th (Korean time) at Mendizorroza in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

Atletico took the lead with a first-half goal by Alejandro Grimaldo in the 33rd minute. However, they conceded a penalty kick due to a foul by Robin Le Normand in stoppage time of the first half, and Lucas Boye converted it to make the score 1-1.

As the tight match continued, manager Diego Simeone substituted out Pablo Barrios and brought on Lee Kang-in in the 12th minute of the second half.

Atletico soon gained a numerical advantage as well. Alaves' Angel Perez was sent off in the 16th minute of the second half, forcing the home team to play the remaining time with 10 men.

Atletico continued its offensive pressure and eventually produced a dramatic winning goal. In the end, Cristian Romero headed in Alex Baena's cross in the 42nd minute of the second half to score the decisive goal.

Lee Kang-in played for 33 minutes after coming on as a substitute. He did not record any offensive points.

Additionally, Lee Kang-in completed 22 out of 26 passes accurately, recording an 85% pass success rate. He created three chances.

He also attempted three crosses, completing two accurately. He touched the ball three times inside the opponent's penalty box and recorded three passes into the attacking area. On defense, he made one tackle and recovered the ball once.

FootMob gave Lee Kang-in a rating of 7.2. Despite his short playing time, he accumulated detailed statistics and received a not-bad evaluation.

However, local media had a different perspective. Spanish outlet El Desmarque gave Lee Kang-in a rating of 5 points.

The outlet stated, "Even though Alaves was playing with 10 men, Lee Kang-in was frequently blocked by the opposing defense," and evaluated that he "failed to find space to deliver threatening balls into the penalty box."

In particular, it pointed out that Alaves had been at a numerical disadvantage since the 16th minute of the second half. The assessment was that even though Atletico completely took control of the game with one more player on the field, Lee Kang-in did not manage to create a decisive moment.

In fact, Atletico led significantly in ball possession at 68%-32% on this day. It also dominated in shots (22-8), shots on target (7-3), and touches inside the opponent's penalty box (33-7).

However, as no goals were scored for a long time, they played a difficult match before securing three points thanks to Romero's late dramatic goal. Atletico is positioned in 2nd place in the league with 6 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss (19 points).

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original