Villarreal and Atletico Madrid play to a draw in season opener

In a thrilling LaLiga season opener on Monday, Atletico Madrid showed great resilience as they clawed back twice to secure a valuable point in a 2-2 draw against Villarreal.

Forward Arnaut Danjuma gave the locals the lead with a strike from close-range in the 18th minute but Atletico hit back quickly with a Marcos Llorente shot from a counter-attack two minutes later.

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak failed to clear a cross in the 37th minute and his mistake led to the ball deflecting off the back of Atletico captain Koke and into the net.

Forward Alexander Sorloth, making his debut for Atletico after an outstanding season for Villarreal as their top scorer, found the equaliser with a towering header six minutes into first-half added time.