La Liga Preview: Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid Need to Get Going—Fast

It had all grown frantic to the point of being desperate. One after another, attacks piled up and the tension grew, but when the relief finally arrived, it was taken away almost immediately. 

Atletico Madrid 1, Alaves 1. 

“They only had one shot on goal,” manager Diego Simeone bemoaned afterward, early on Monday morning. “Considering what we could have got from the game, we feel a little short-changed. We tried everything tonight. It leaves a bad taste not getting what we wanted. We should have taken more.”

He was right, Atletico should have: Though Kevin Gameiro’s late penalty was wiped out by Manu Garcia’s wonder strike with the last kick of the game, the shot count had read 27 to two, Gameiro had missed a sitter, Fernando Torres and Yannick Carrasco had hit the woodwork, and Alaves goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco had made a string of saves. 

Sound familiar? Well, sort of.

Simeone and his players know a thing or two about being on the other side of all that, but this season the intention is to continue evolving away from such an existence.

For the second straight year, they’ve beefed up in attack over the summer, adding Gameiro and Nicolas Gaitan to a cast that includes Antoine Griezmann, Carrasco, Torres and Angel Correa. Combining with that bunch, the ongoing emergence of Saul Niguez and Koke in midfield gives Atleti a potent look, and yet here they are with one point and one goal after tackling Alaves. 

They need to get going. And fast. 

92 mins: Atletico Madrid 1-0 Alaves (Gameiro)95 mins: Atletico Madrid 1-1 Alaves (Garcia) pic.twitter.com/RBw91G1Mnj

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) August 21, 2016

On Saturday night, Atleti head only a few miles south to take on another newly promoted club in Leganes, who are fresh from an opening win over Celta Vigo. Atleti will point to Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon this time last year to stress there’s no need for panic at this early stage, and that’s true. But the wider context is important here, too. 

Simeone has often spoken in the past of his club’s chances in LaLiga being dependent on activity around them.

“We have to prepare as a team for when Real Madrid and Barcelona are not so attentive,” he told Onda Cero (h/t Reuters) last May. “[In 2014], they were not so focussed. To become champions again, we have to work to finish second, third and when they get distracted win the title again.”

For all the astonishing progress Simeone has made at the Vicente Calderon, he’s still aware that a little fortune is required. Toppling the two biggest clubs on the planet needs some inadvertent cooperation from them, and that’s the thing: This doesn’t look like such a year. 

Since Simeone’s arrival in 2011, this is the first time both Real Madrid and Barcelona have been settled across the board simultaneously. Until now, at least one of the league’s giants has been working through issues at squad level or in the dugout as seasons have approached.

Indeed, Simeone has already seen Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez depart the Santiago Bernabeu, and Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova and Gerardo Martino move on from the Camp …

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