All told, it was not a great weekend for the title-chasers in La Liga. With one exception: Atletico Madrid, despite being second-best for much of their home game against dangerous Real Sociedad, scrambled three points thanks to a late winner from Antoine Griezmann, who followed the modern trend by refusing to celebrate a goal against his former club.
Griezmann might not have rejoiced, but for Atletico fans – and for neutral followers of La Liga everywhere – Atletico’s last-gasp triumph this weekend should perhaps be warmly welcomed as the result puts Diego Simeone’s men in the thick of the title race.
For much of this season, Atletico have been surrounded by a new and notable level of criticism and negativity.
Although they remain unbeaten in La Liga, they have suffered too many low-scoring draws against opponents they really should be beating, and are also on the brink of Champions League elimination after twice failing to fight their way out of Qarabag.
For the first time since he arrived at the club six years ago, Simeone has found his tactics questioned for a perceived negativity, and star forwards Yannick Carrasco and Griezmann have come under scrutiny for their lacklustre attitudes.
All has not been well in the Rojiblanco house…yet look at them now, still unbeaten after 14 league games – their best ever start in that respect – just one point behind lavishly lauded Valencia, two points clear of bitter crosstown rivals Real Madrid, and six points behind suddenly struggling Barcelona.
If that’s Atletico’s position after such a supposedly poor start to the season, can you imagine how fly they might fly if they find top form?
The good news for Atletico is that they can certainly get much better, especially going forward. They have often been clearly lacking in attacking ideas, relying on set-pieces or sheer persistence rather than genuine chance creation, scoring one or no goals in seven of their league games so far.
But the last couple of weeks have shown signs of encouragement, especially with the return to form of Griezmann, who has now scored four goals in his last three games.
The turning point for the French forward came in the must-win Champions League clash with Roma a couple of weeks ago, when Griezmann ended a two-month goal drought with a spectacular overhead volley to set his team on their way to a 2-0 win which kept their qualification hopes alive.
Antoine Griezmann back in form
He then scored twice in the 5-0 thrashing of Levante last week before adding Saturday’s winner against Real Sociedad, putting suggestions that he is preparing to quit the club in January on the backburner.
Talking of January, that rapidly approaching month will also provide Griezmann with significant and much-needed support in the formidable shape of Diego Costa, who will be ready to kick off his second spell at Atletico when the club’s transfer ban comes to an end.
And Costa won’t be the only one, with Spanish international winger Vitolo, who can provide exactly the kind of wily invention that Atletico often badly lack, also coming on board after spending the first half of the season on loan at Las Palmas following his transfer from Sevilla.
The addition of Costa and Vitolo – two top-class and proven performers – should make a great deal of difference to Atletico’s firepower, assuming they can quickly integrate into the team’s style of play which, of course, should not be any problem at all for Costa.
At the other end of the field, Simeone’s men continue to be among the best defences in the world, having conceded just seven goals in their 14 league games to date – the joint-best tally in La Liga alongside Barcelona.
Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez, Lucas Hernandez and Stefan Savic all provide outstanding quality in the centre of Simeone’s defence, allowing the Argentine coach to rotate his back four without losing any of their famous defensive impenetrability.
This week could deliver a serious setback to Atletico’s season with a Champions League knockout – they need to win away at Chelsea and hope that Roma drop points against Qarabag to progress.
But even that could be helpful to their league ambitions, allowing them to focus all their energies in one direction (the Copa del Rey and Europa League, realistically, would be afterthoughts).
So they might have suffered a ‘bad’ start to the season, but Atletico now appear to be hitting their stride, and they are very much genuine contenders for the La Liga title.
