Atleti, a few days off before preparing for the Champions

Atlético said goodbye to the League with the goal accomplished. With the draw against Real Sociedad, the rojiblanco team confirmed a third place that seemed complicated before the competition for the coronavirus health crisis stopped when it was in sixth place.

However, the good return performance, with seven wins and four draws, has ensured participation in the Champions League next season and Atlético has occupied the place that corresponds to it by budget in a year of transition, as Simeone has always defined it, after having nine new faces in the squad compared to last season.

Now, once the end that the club was pursuing in the League has been reached, something vital for next season's budget, it is time to focus on the Champions League. After eliminating Liverpool in a spectacular knockout round, with victory in the Wanda Metropolitano thanks to Saúl's goal and comeback in overtime at Anfield with a double by Llorente and the lace by Morata, a golden option is presented to win the coveted title. Atlético eliminated the current champion and the great favorite to repeat victory. In the future it has, a priori, a more favorable calendar.

While Real Madrid and Barcelona have to play the second leg of their knockout round against Manchester City and Naples respectively, Atlético will already face the quarters on August 13 against German Leipzig. In a new format with one-game playoffs, if he manages to clinch victory against a team that will be without Timo Werner, he will wait for the seller of the tie between Atalanta and PSG.

But before starting to prepare for that quarterfinal match, Simeone has given their players a week off. After accumulating eleven games in just over a month, the Argentine coach He wants his squad to disconnect before starting to prepare for that match against Leipzig with just over two weeks of time before the big date. Cholo wants to have his entire staff at an optimal physical level, where concerns are focused on the state of Thomas, who asked for the change during the match against Real Sociedad and in the recovery of Vrsaljko, the only player who meets low.

As that game ended on Sunday, the rojiblancos players they have started to travel to enjoy those days off before focusing on a mini preseason for a tournament that captures the illusions of fans and players. It should be noted that the Leipzig players also had a few days of vacation after end the Bundesliga on June 27. So Morata is in Sardinia, Vitolo in Gran Canaria, Oblak in Slovenia, Trippier in Ibiza, Correa on the beach … all of them enjoying a few days of relaxation before returning to the top for that appointment in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.