Atlético need a scorer: they had the worst Pichichi since 1999

EI Atlético has suffered from a pressing lack of goal. The two ends of the team, Morata and Diego Costa, have lived a gray season and the team Griezmann's departure has suffered excessively without anyone who has taken responsibility in the final meters on his back.

The Frenchman said goodbye last summer to sign with Barcelona, ​​where he has not had a productive year as a regular substitute in key games, while Simeone has not recovered from the loss of his top scorer during his five seasons with the club since his signing in 2014 from Real Sociedad. In his place came the very young João Félix with the idea of ​​supplying balls to the offensive duo, that during the preseason he formed a pair up whenever he could with the Portuguese starting from the right wing. Goals like him 3-7 against Real Madrid (four from Costa) and the good summer sensations did not presage that the team would dry up so completely once the official matches began.

But, with the passing of the days, the injuries and the poor level of the two rams has meant that they have practically never met on the pitch. Morata finished the season as the team's top scorer with 16 goals: 12 in the League, three in the Champions League and one in the Spanish Super Cup. Diego Costa for his part has finished with five goals, all of them in league. Between the two they have not been able to improve on Griezmann's worst course as rojiblanco, last season in which he also he scored 21 goals (15 in the league). The Frenchman, who in the 2015-16 season reached 32 goals In all competitions, seven of them to reach the Champions League final, he has also been the top rojiblanco assistant in his last three years.

The figures of the team's two battering rams practically make it impossible for Atlético to compete for titles. It took a world for the team to generate danger and for those above to convert it. If it was necessary to sweat blood to certify the third place in the League, in the Champions League, where all the hopes of the fans were placed, between Costa and Morata they never finished off Leipzig's goal, although the Spanish-Brazilian assisted João Félix in the play that led to the momentary draw penalty. Throughout the season it has been clear that the rojiblanco team needs a benchmark face to door. Go to the market with few resources or trust the evolution of Morata, Costa or João Félix It is the dilemma that Atlético faces in the remainder of the summer.

The worst Pichichi since 1999

Atlético finished third despite having the Pichichi with the lowest scoring figure in the 21st century squad. Morata scored 12 goals in the league, numbers that have not been seen since the 1998-99 season, when José Mari and Correa were the team's top scorers in the competition with only seven goals, although the Uruguayan only played 13 games.

In that period, for example, Atlético fell despite Hasselbaink's 24 goals, had in Forlán his Golden Boot with 32 goals to finish fourth, won LaLiga with 27 from Diego Costa or saw how Falcao played Deportivo in a single game in 2012, that is, the same as many as Costa this course in 30 games. Torres was the reference during the five seasons following the promotion, some of them with only 13 league goals, but in a team competing for seventh place, not for the title.

After the Child, the couple Agüero-Forlán returned the team to the Champions League by contrasting its quality up with the weakness behind. But with the arrival of Simeone, Atlético has got used to fighting for the maximum. Since his first full season on the bench he has always finished in the top three finishers, gplaying the League in 2013-14 and starting this year the course with two consecutive runners-up ahead of Real Madrid. Falcao, Costa before going to Chelsea and Griezmann had been fundamental pieces. Now, the figure of the always defining scorer of Atleti has been lost and it will be very difficult to dream of high levels if he does not recover.