Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone could not help but applaud the performance of striker Alexander Sorloth after the Norwegian scored all four goals in their 4-0 win against Real Sociedad in LaLiga on Saturday.
Sorloth completed the fastest hat-trick in LaLiga history in the opening 11 minutes before adding a fourth goal to seal the rout on the half-hour.
“I was very happy with the team’s first half in general. Alex, of course, is a whole different matter,” Simeone told a press conference.
“He had a fantastic night, especially those first 45 minutes, where he decisively finished every ball that came his way. That allowed us to take control of the game and take it to a place we never imagined possible before the game started.”
Despite becoming Atletico’s leading scorer in the league this season with 17 goals, Sorloth has started more games from the bench (19) than featured in team’s starting line-ups (13).
“If we go by the numbers, he’s scored more goals coming on in the second half – except for today, obviously,” Simeone said.
The Argentine coach was then quick to outline the forward’s other strengths.
“What I like about him is that he’s important in every moment and context of the game you can imagine,” Simeone continued.
“If we need to attack, he gives us a strong offensive weight in the area. If we counterattack, he has good passing for that. And if we’re closed down and have to defend, his physicality gets us out of uncomfortable situations.
“He’s playing the game the team needs and is making the most of his football and his goalscoring.”
Sorloth, who joined Atletico from Villarreal last August, gave credit to his teammates for contributing to his clinical performance.
“The balls were falling at my feet, my teammates were giving me really good passes,” he said.
“I’m very happy… I hope to be in LaLiga for many more years and have more games like this. I struggled to get the season off to a good start. In October and November, I started to improve. Now my teammates know me better.
“It was the same situation as last season when I scored four goals against Real Madrid and had a shot hit the post. Today was like a flashback.”
Sorloth spent two seasons on loan at Sociedad from Red Bull Leipzig between 2021-2023.
