Atlético, lost in the desert

All defeats are not the same. Let them tell Barça and Atlético. It is one thing to fall with your head held high, with the feeling of going ‘in crescendo’ as the days go by, and quite another to do so with a lost gaze, not knowing how to get out of a labyrinth that seems to have no end. The latter is what happened to the mattress team in Riyadh, where they wanted to find their particular oasis and in the end they only found desert, sand at the tip of a shovel.

Far away is that Atleti who was a steamroller and who, although with little football, subdued his rivals based on claw, pressure and force. A League champion half a year ago and today 16 points from his lost throne. And without giving a sense of recovery in the short term.

At the Kind Fahd International Stadium, the people of Madrid confirmed that they were going through a deep crisis. Atlético, who have not yet managed to chain two wins this season, have won only seven of their most recent 17 official matches. The last one, in Villarreal, ended with a draw with which he barely survived, a match in which he was overwhelmed for an hour. It was the harbinger of what could happen yesterday against an Athletic team, who although they aren’t anything to rave about, it was enough for them to press the accelerator a bit after the 1-0 scoreline to give two lethal blows and tear their opponent to pieces.

Two goals, those of the ‘lions’, which came in separate actions from set pieces, which showed that Atlético has lost what was one of its main hallmarks, defensive strength. There are already 34 goals that he has conceded in the 28 games he has played this season. Not even Oblak seems to be the same as always, not to mention Llorente, Koke… We don’t even talk about Luis Suárez.

That Atlético champion is a mirage. The ‘cholismo’ could be in its final stretch after a glorious decade. Its flower seems withered. In Riyadh, he also did not find the oasis to revitalize it