Football is a cruel sport, especially at the highest level. The bigger the competition, the higher the stakes in a sport that delivers joy and breaks hearts.
At the very highest level where the world is watching, a club’s honour, history, values and investment strategy are on the line and the only option for any team is to win at all costs. Expensively set up teams which comprise playing and coaching personnel who are paid handsomely because they were adjudged to be good at their jobs will be made to prove themselves.
As a football club, Atletico Madrid falls into this category. The Spanish giants are going through arguably the best spell in their history competitively and financially as they are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world and a regular contender in the UEFA Champions League.
They will be ending the season with Champions League qualification in the bag and will play in Europe’s top club football competition for the 12th season in a row.
They also narrowly lost 5-4 on aggregate in the Champions League quarterfinals to Borussia Dortmund and lost soundly over two legs to Athletic Club Bilbao. In La Liga, they are currently 20 points behind Real Madrid who are the Champions with two games to go. Their uncharacteristic slump did not stop Atletico tickets from being one of the most highly demanded in the 2023/24 season.
This season is effectively over for them even though there are two League games to go and the reactions to the way the season went leaves mixed feelings among supporters and players alike. Diego Simeone believes the season should be seen in a more positive light than a negative one regardless of their lack of silverware.
“I want to be champion more than anyone. For twelve years I have been working with a tremendous desire to inflate the balloon [make people excited] in the best way, but sometimes it gets punctured. We try to fight together. We have Madrid, they are 22 points ahead; Barca, three or six; we reached the semifinals of the Copa, quarterfinals of the Champions League… I want to be a champion, have no doubt. It’s not easy, but let’s value what we have. If you have it, you don’t value it; and when you lose it.”
He was speaking after his side beat Getafe 3-0 through an Antoine Griezmann hattrick. It was a brilliant performance by the France international after injury and he received praise from his manager as a result.
“Beyond the goals, he allows us to impose ourselves, gives us possession, his interpretation of the game, fluidity… There were other very good performances, the centre-backs, De Paul, Barrios, Llorente,
“A game that he interpreted very well where to do damage, finished very well and beyond the goals, he gave us circulation, understanding the game and that makes us better.”
Atletico really should have done better this year
Their League performance this year was pretty consistent as they weren’t out of the top spot for too long but it was their performances in the cup competitions that would have caused the most disappointment for Los Colchoneros.
They made easy work of their Champions League group and easily qualified with 14 points from 4 wins and two draws in six games.
They moved to the last 16 and faced Inter Milan where they managed to dispatch last season’s finalists (and one of the favorites to go deep in the competition at the time) 3-2 on aggregate.
Most believed that whoever won that tie would find themselves in the last four of the tournament at the very least, but things don’t always go as we plan, do they?
The quarterfinal tie against Borussia Dortmund saw them win the first leg 2-1. Atletico had less of the ball but scored two goals from 2.18 xG. They went into the away leg feeling confident but Dortmund overwhelmed them, turning the tie around and winning 4-2 on the night, 5-4 on aggregate.
It was an entertaining tie that saw both teams fight hard to win but in the end, the Germans had more desire and the Atletico manager reiterated those thoughts after the match.
“The team tried until the end to win a game that at all times was the opposite of what we wanted. Dortmund reacted well to us making it 2-2 and won the game precisely because they were more forceful in the area.”
If you take this Champions League exit out of isolation and look at the Club’s tournament record in recent seasons, you would realize that the Spanish side has a real issue in their European performance.
They have not made the Semifinals of this competition since 2017 and have crashed out of the group stages twice. This is not the reputation one is used to concerning the club but this is their inescapable reality. Something needs to change, but the question is what?
Just last November, Simeone committed his future to the club by signing a new contract that will run until 2027 and it would not be the best idea to sack the Argentine. Chances are that if they continue to tread this path, they will remain in the place they currently are, without making any progress.
It is already hard enough to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid in the League as they have only two League titles in 10 years to show for their troubles domestically.
Atleti’s identity at their pomp was a team that was renowned for their stingy defense and organized low block. They were a team that was capable of shutting down the best attacks and creating top-quality chances in transition. They were the nastiest team to play against and they had the players to accomplish a style that took them to three European finals in five years.
Now the identity of the team has moved from what it was to a team that favors a high line more and tries to be more expensive. Atleti have been fun to watch this season but it looks like they have sacrificed their defensive strength for a more attacking team and it hasn’t worked out yet.
It may take a while yet to see whether the decision to transition into a more attacking team is the right one but a switch has to flip soon.
The fact that Atleti has such an aging team while their two biggest rivals domestically are looking to go younger is another sign of a club that has not started looking to the future yet.
Conclusion
Atletico Madrid fans have every reason to be unhappy about how their season went as well as the state of their football club when compared to their rivals. UEFA Champions League football is nice but with the revenue the club already generates and the money the club can spend in the market, they should be more of a threat at the highest level.
