“We need freshness.” The phrase is from Cholo, at the press conference after Atlético-Granada. His team had crashed again on the same curve, that of the teams in decline that this League has already taken 20 points from. But also another: the lack of goal. An accentuated fate after the last break. The numbers are meridians: six games, four to nil. And in that statistic went the tie against Manchester City. And in that statistic he has not hit the table, with LaLiga of 14, the remaining objective, the title: qualify among the top four, be a team in the next Champions League. This day he wins a point (61) against Betis (57), but loses two with Barça and Sevilla (63). Everything is still on a tile. With five games ahead.
Alavés, round trip quarterfinals against City with Mallorca in between, Espanyol and Granada have been Atlético’s rivals after the March break. A break after which Simeone lost a player who had been residual before coining the LaLiga of 14 and then became capital: Héctor Herrera. He hasn’t come back yet. And the team, without him, does not fly the same. He will have to learn, however, Herrera will not be here since June: weeks ago his signing for the next season by the Houston Dynamo of the American MLS was announced. With footballers like Griezmann, Correa, Suárez, Carrasco or Llorente, Atlético cannot find the net.
The numbers
The Uruguayan who made 21 a season ago, this one has 13 to five days from the end, Llorente who a year ago made double figures, 13 goals, 12 assists, has not yet seen the net, Correa has 12, Griezmann, 8, Cunha 6, carrasco, 5. All very distributed, all low. The João who lived his best moment as a rojiblanco since he signed for Atlético, with 10 goals, will not return, he has been injured for the remainder of the season. After the break, game by game goes almost zero to zero. Zero against City in the two qualifiers, zero against Mallorca who did one and beat the rojiblancos, zero against Granada. Against Alavés, as soon as the competition returned, the team seemed to leave behind the curves of the teams in decline and the lack of goals, LaLiga 14 continued fueling full of victories. But Mallorca arrived and that again, the tangle, the ball, the clogged boots. Against City, Cholo’s approach also lacked. And against Granada, the last photo. The Cup final grants that break this weekend that Cholo asked for his players. There are five finals left. And for the Champions League, Atleti needs one thing above all: the goal.