Doubts assail Correa

The 2020-21 season ended on a high for one of the footballers who represent the shield at Atlético: Ángel Correa. The Argentine was one of the heroes. The tip of him in Valladolid. His five goals in the last seven games, after his mistakes at Villamarín and that iconic hug with Cholo. The 2021-22 started the same, in numbers of Haaland and Lewandowski in front of the goal. Three goals and one assist in the first three games. Atlético LaLiga ended in San Sebastián as it began: with a goal from him five minutes into the match. had not been the owner.

He ceased to be after his blow against Betis. Atletico top scorer in the league, tied on aggregate with Suárez (13 goals)he has only played 54% of the minutes, he has only been 55% in the starting eleven, that is, he was left out 45%. The season leaves a feeling in his head: that what he has so hard to achievethe minutes, the place, the status, he loses it easily, for others it is almost standard, without the sweat, blood and effort that costs him so much.

With a contract until 2026, his head is a tug of war at the moment. Because the season ended, with the objective achieved, being third, the next Champions League, but it’s time to think about the next one. Entrances, exits, sensations. And Correa’s is there, one of the guys most loved by the locker room, coaching staff and fans, but at 27 he can’t escape from that place: being the twelfth player. Griezmann’s departure to Barcelona in 2019 gave him the opportunity to escape from the right wing and play in his place, the striker. And he took advantage of it.

Its almost 2019

It happened after having almost one foot out of Atlético, that same summer, only crooked because Milan did not reach the 50 million that the club asked for him. It was after that where Correa has been the most in Atlético, abandoning that revulsive qualification that accompanied him since his debut. With more weight, more transcendence, with the importance at the height of his sacrifice. It had cost. A lot, that, sweat, effort, but there was her well-deserved award. ownership. Cholo’s confidence, by the way, has always been intact in the footballer but it doesn’t end up being fair with his performance. And Correa can not do more. He plus he cannot deliver.

But this season despite being the tenth player in minutes (2,424′) and having participated at least one minute of all the games in which he was available (49), He started 21 league games, compared to 29 last season. And after that blow against Betis he has only had a third of the minutes, 38%, without goals, without assists, the memory of the puntin in Pucela faded. With that growing feeling in his head, verbalized even before some of his teammates, settle that weight that has cost him so much to achieve, that it is not so easy to take it away. He is 27 years old and the moment of the jump could be now. Summer is long. But Correa starts it with those doubts in your head that can lead you out.