Atlético goes through a moment of maximum difficulty. Four consecutive defeats in the League, for the first time in the entire decade of Simeone at the controls of the team (he had never reached three) and a feeling of fragility never seen before. The mattress team also goes through a bad mental period and when it goes into a spin, everything is more difficult.
For sample, Granada’s second goal, where João Félix ran into the stick in a great individual action and in the same play he ended up as the opponent against. Atlético has maintained the backbone of its league title, but the main figures are a far cry from their version of last season. And if behind Oblak and the defense make waters and Koke finds it difficult to generate and cover in the middle, Simeone recognized that other years tight and even undeserved matches were won and now the coin is coming out tails.
And it is that last year a defensive wall was combined with a huge success in the rival area. And two main figures: Luis Suárez, the team’s top scorer to win LaLiga with 21 goals and the definitive explosion of Marcos Llorente, the second in the scorer facet and the first in the assists (12 and 11 respectively, plus one of each in Champions). Atlético had an impressive first round, adding 50 points and overwhelming his rivals in many games. But, when he could not do it, he had the strength to have Suárez and Llorente upstairs wreaking havoc and breaking even the duels.
In the first 18 days of the 2020-21 league championship, Suárez scored 12 goals and gave two assists, both to Llorente (against Granada and against Alavés in one of those games won with a goal of ‘9’ in the last moments). I would also get a double against Cádiz in match 19 of the Colchonero League, to close the first round with 14 goals and at an outstanding level, an unsustainable pace with the passage of the games. Llorente, on the other hand, was more constant throughout the course and Atlético’s 18th match in the League against Valencia closed with his fifth assist, two of them for Suárez (Granada and Eibar) and to which he added six goals. Therefore, the Uruguayan had participated in 14 goals and Llorente in 11, 25 goals of which 21 of them were different (not counting assists between them in the same goal).
Numbers that contrast greatly with what is going on in the course so far. Suárez is still the top scorer in the squad, but his drought lasts for the last six games, eight counting the two of Champions. He has scored seven goals in the league (plus one in Europe for Milan) and gave Lemar assistance to open the scoring against Barcelona. That is to say, adds five goals and an assist less than a year ago.
And Llorente has been hampered by two things: having to play winger and injuries. In Seville he again suffered a muscular mishap as had already happened against Barcelona and had relapsed against Liverpool. Trippier’s constant absences have forced him to act as a right winger, where he complies and is physically safe, but it takes him away from the area and the area where he is most dangerous for the rival. Thus, with more than half the season having to act as a patch on the side, Llorente has not made his debut as a scorer and only has one assist, to Griezmann in Cádiz. That is, six goals and four fewer passes than in the 2020-21 campaign.
Waiting for that Trippier clarifies its continuity in the winter market, Llorente hopes to be able to detach himself from the defensive zone and reappear in the final meters to reconnect with who he was last season. Between Suárez and Llorente they have participated directly in nine goals in 18 league games, when last season there were 25, 21 of them different. A downturn that in a way also explains the team’s massive loss of points, which already accumulates 18 less than at this point last year. One of the missions for the beginning of the year 2022 is to meet again Suárez and Llorente with the determination of the past.