The 2019-20 campaign was the first time in 13-long seasons that there was no Spanish team in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. This has sparked a discourse around the dominance of Spanish clubs fading away in European football.
Though Real Madrid looked formidable on the way to their 34th La Liga title, their problems at the top are quite unmistakable. Their injury-laden marquee signing Eden Hazard failing to make a mark in his debut season hasn’t helped their cause. And if you even remotely follow the news, you cannot be any stranger to the mess that is FC Barcelona.
Following the trail, Atlético Madrid seem to be on a similar boat. Last season, pre-lockdown, Los Colchoneros looked to be out of La Liga’s top four race, for the first time since 2012.
After the restart, Diego Simeone’s side managed to crawl back and finish 3rd in the league, however, their fortunes weren’t looking any brighter as they were knocked out from the UCL by RB Leipzig in the quarter-finals.
Atléti’s misery lies going forward. Last campaign, they scored only 51 goals in the league, which is the lowest amongst the top seven teams. They even had lower shots on target than 19th placed CD Leganés. Even to a naked eye, the numbers are worrying.
In spite of being wobbly up top, Los Rojiblancos have always been a resilient defensive unit. Simeone doesn’t like conceding goals. And even in a struggling season, they conceded just 27 goals, which is the lowest in the league after Real Madrid.
The Atléti faithfuls will be expecting nothing less from the defense this season but if they are to challenge for the title, the forward players in Álvaro Morata, João Félix, former-Chelsea striker Diego Costa and the new signing Yannick Carrasco will have to find the back of the net regularly.
Full Squad:
Goalkeepers: Jan Oblak, Ivo Grbić
Defenders: José Giménez, Stefan Savic, Felipe, Mario Hermoso, Renan Lodi, Manu Sánchez, Kieran Trippier, Santiago Arias
Midfielders: Thomas Partey, Marcos Llorente, Saúl Ñíguez, Koke, Héctor Herrera, Ángel Correa, Yannick Carrasco
Forwards: Vitolo, João Félix, Álvaro Morata, Diego Costa, Ivan Saponjic
List of new buys:
Álvaro Morata signed for 48.5 million pounds from Chelsea
Yannick Carrasco signed for an undisclosed fee from Dalian Yifang
Ivo Grbić signed for 5 million pounds from NK Lokomotiva
Key Players:
1. Jan Oblak: For a few seasons now, Oblak has established himself as one of the finest shot-stoppers on the planet and arguably the most vital cog in Atléti’s backline. The 2019/20 season was no different, as the Slovenian kept 17 clean sheets in the league and made 89 saves.
Los colchoneros’ fans will turn to the 27-year-old to pull off similar numbers in the upcoming season.
2. Felipe: The entirety of José Giménez’s last season was defined by spells of injury that left the Atléti backline high and dry.
But Felipe coupled with Hermoso at the back did not let Giménez’s absence hamper the defensive unit.
The Brazilian centre-back made 1.5 tackles per 90, which is more than what Raphael Varane made for Real Madrid. The 31-year-old also registered more interceptions than Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Gerard Piqué last season.
3. Saúl Ñíguez: We often speak of versatility and Saúl perfectly embodies that aspect of the game. The Spanish international over the last season played across the field for the Los Rojiblancos side. Predominantly a centre-midfielder, Simeone played Saúl as a left-midfielder and even as a full-back when needed.
The 25-year-old won 65 tackles last season, second to Casemiro’s 75 tackles for Real Madrid. With 102 blocks, Saúl topped the charts in the league for the season.
With him, there’s also potential going forward as the Spaniard scored 6 goals last season.
4. João Félix: When Atlético Madrid broke the bank to sign a 19-year-old from Liga NOS (Portuguese first division) for a club-record fee of 113 million pounds, you’d hope the lad is bloody special.
However, Félix failed to turn heads as he was expected to in his first season. But there were signs. Signs that will leave Simeone and the Atléti faithfuls hopeful. With his ability to dribble past players and play in a free role just in the hole behind the striker, Félix can be the missing piece in the club’s attacking puzzle.
Coming on against RB Leipzig at the 58th-minute mark in the UCL quarter-final, he showed clear intent, as he drove past the opposition defense and earned a penalty.
Simeone would be praying for Félix to crown his trust and if he does, the youngster will be nothing less than a new recruitment for the club this season.
5. Álvaro Morata: Morata has to perform and get amongst the goals for the club from the red and white part of Madrid to do well, there is no ifs and buts clause in this.
The Spaniard tucked in 14 goals this season and was the highest scorer for the club. The Atléti fans will be expecting him to buff up his goal-scoring tally in the upcoming season.
However, the academy graduate from their city rival Real Madrid is yet to hit the 20-goal-mark in any of his seasons in the top flight.
