From risking his life to fighting for the dream of being a league champion. It is the situation of Atlético so far from last season to the current one. The pandemic paralyzed our country A year ago, also soccer, and the rojiblanco club lived a few weeks of uncertainty, almost dramatic until the sporting activity was restarted. Atlético then faced eleven finals for their economic survival, since it was out of the Champions positions. Now he has ten finals ahead of him in which the league title is played. Similar situation Regarding the remaining matches, different pressure.
Atlético played their last game on March 7 against Sevilla (2-2). Simeone's team he played again on June 14 against Athletic (1-1) on matchday 28. The club was out of the Champions League, with all that that entails. Getafe, Real Sociedad and Sevilla threatened seriously the posts of Champions League. The pandemic has forced Atlético to reduce considerably his budget, to exceed the 400 million to the current 325. Not qualifying among the top four and not having played this edition of the Champions League would have been fatal for the club. Leaders, coaching staff and staff understood the situation. In six weeks they faced eleven games and the results were very good: seven won and four tied (Athletic, Barcelona, Celta and Real Sociedad). Twenty goals for and six against. Those of Cholo threw the rest and finished LaLiga in third position, with the objective accomplished. A very difficult moment had been saved.
Those matches might be useful now as a mirror. Seven weeks of league competition and ten finals remain. The challenge now is something else. The club has your participation assured in the next Champions and the dream is win the title. The squad has already done the duties requested by the leaders. Atlético has to finish, by budget, among the top three in the championship. Now we have to finish the job and fight until the end for LaLiga. Sevilla, Betis, Huesca, Athletic, Eibar, Elche, Barcelona, Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Valladolid are the rivals.
Match by match on Atlético will defend its current positionleader with four points advantage over him Barcelona and six about him Real Madrid. Those who want to see the current situation in a positive way have reasons for it: all would have signed to be like this at this stage of the tournament, leader, depending on himself and with his main players in shape: Oblak, Marcos Llorente, Koke, Lemar, Luis Suarez … The Athletic, what's more, knows how to play with pressure. The one from now seems like child's play with the one from then. The club would have had to part with one of its main players had it not been in the top four.
Rivals also have reason to hope: the distance has been reducing and the team sends signs of fatigue. We will see. There is a coincidence that the break has been good for Atlético. These days, if you look back and see what happened a year ago, you will feel strong and motivated for what is to come.