‘If I worried about myself, I’d play tennis’ – Morata focused on Atletico’s form after Alaves draw

Alvaro Morata insists he is not focusing on his own goalscoring form after Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Deportivo Alaves, stating he would just play tennis if individual exploits were important to him.

Atletico produced another underwhelming performance at Mendizorroza on Tuesday but looked to have escaped with all three points when Morata struck 20 minutes from time.

Lucas Perez then scored in style late on with a curling effort, denying Atletico the chance to go top of La Liga for a few hours.

Morata’s effort made it three goals in as many outings for the striker, though his personal form is not his top priority.

“If I worried about myself I would play tennis. I’m as disappointed as everyone else is in the locker room,” the Spain international told reporters.

“We had chances and we did not take advantage of them. For us, two points escaped us, but we also have to see the rest of the teams and what they will do on a trip as difficult as this one.”

Morata missed a good opportunity to make it 2-0 shortly before Perez’s equaliser and coach Diego Simeone believes it would have been game over had Fernando Pacheco not made the save.

“The goalkeeper made a great stop, the ball was not going wide of the goal,” Simeone added.

“Alvaro was fine and the goalkeeper kept Alaves in the game because the match was over with the second goal.”

Simeone also pointed to Atletico’s poor first-half display as a major contributor to failing to claim the win.

“In the first half Alaves were better, they were more intense, more aggressive, pressing well and controlling the second ball,” he said.

“Overall, Alaves played a great game in the first half, we did it in the second half. We played well, we had situations, we pressed higher, we played between the lines.

“If we keep playing as in the second half and clearly understand what we did in the first half, we will have done well.

“It’s clear that if a team doesn’t start well in the first half, it’s always the responsibility of the coach, because they were not excited and pumped to do well.”

With Barca’s 5-1 win over Real Valladolid, Atletico Madrid sit third in LaLiga. Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Villarreal could all move above them across Wednesday and Thursday.