Stuttgart shot more than the league norm, but chance quality lagged

Stuttgart and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at the MHP Arena, with Atletico down to ten men after Morten Hjulmand's 64th-minute red card.

Stuttgart had 17 shots against Atletico Madrid, which is more than the 14.59 a side takes on average in this competition's sample. The count alone flatters the picture a little. Expected goals, a measure that gives each shot a value based on how often that kind of chance goes in, came to 1.35 for Stuttgart, below the league average of 1.75 per side. Plenty of efforts, then, but not many of them were clear openings.

Jamie Leweling gave the home side the lead in the 36th minute, and his rating of 7.79 was the highest of any Stuttgart player who featured for the full game's early stages. Stuttgart's expected goals of 1.35 meant one goal was a fair return, though not a generous one. The equaliser came quickly after the restart, when Julián Álvarez scored in the 47th minute, two minutes after Jonathan David had come on for Atletico.

Álvarez also had the strongest rating on either side, 8.06, and he was the last Atletico player taken off in the 78th minute. Ademola Lookman provided the assist, and Lookman's own contribution carried into the second half. The turning point for the balance of the match came in the 64th minute, when Hjulmand was sent off. From that point Atletico were playing with ten men, and they had to defend the draw without him.

On the ball, Stuttgart had 54% possession to Atletico's 46%. Stuttgart completed 450 of their 505 passes, and Atletico completed 379 of 457. Stuttgart also won nine corners to Atletico's four and had eleven shots inside the penalty area, compared with nine for Atletico. Atletico's side had only one shot from outside the box, while Stuttgart took six from distance.

Atletico's shooting was more efficient than their chance creation suggests. They had ten shots in total, three of them on target, and their expected goals of 0.9 was lower than Stuttgart's but not far off what they scored. Stuttgart had five shots on target, so the home side's finishing was less productive in the sense that matters most: their 1.35 expected goals returned one goal rather than the one and a bit one might have hoped.

Form pulls the two sides apart. Stuttgart have won three of their last six matches, losing three, and have scored nine goals while conceding five in that stretch. Atletico have won all six of their recent matches, scoring 14 and conceding just two. In the table, Stuttgart sit fourth after two matches with six points, while Atletico are 16th with three points.

Atletico's 14 goals across their last six matches stand as the most of either side in that run, and Stuttgart's nine are the fewer. Both clubs have a point to show from Stuttgart, but the figures suggest the visitors arrived with the sharper form, even after losing a player for the second half.

Player of the matchJ. Álvarez1 goal8.1

J. Leweling1 goal7.8

M. Mittelstädt2 chances created7.6

Álex Grimaldo3 chances created7.4