5 reasons why Atletico Madrid may not win La Liga (2021-22)
The reigning La Liga champions Atletico Madrid are riding high on the back of a league-winning 2020-21 season. Led by Diego Simeone, the red half of Madrid accumulated a total of 86 points, bettering Real Madrid's tally by two points. The Argentine manager has successfully erected a fortress at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, with Jan Oblak at its helm.
Once again, Atletico Madrid finished with the best defensive record in La Liga, allowing their opponents to score a mere 25 goals last season. Their impressive defensive showing was only surpassed by one side in the entirety of the top five European leagues. A resurgent Lille side, with Mike Maignan between the sticks, only conceded 23 times en route to their fifth Ligue 1 title.
Atletico Madrid's recent record in La Liga
Ever since Diego Simeone set foot in Madrid, Los Rojiblancos have experienced an upturn in their fortunes. The 51-year-old tactician inherited a mediocre Atletico Madrid side in 2011 and in a few years' time, transformed them into continental juggernauts.
In his debut season as the side's manager, Simeone guided them to a European double, winning the Europa League as well as the UEFA Super Cup. Atletico Madrid famously pipped Barcelona to the 2013-14 La Liga title, breaking an 18-year-league drought.
Since Simeone's appointment, the three-time Europa League winners have only finished out of the top three on two separate occasions. Atletico Madrid have henceforth shattered the Madrid-Barca duopoly, reshaping La Liga as a three-horse race.
Although Los Colchoneros have established themselves as European and domestic powerhouses, they have still ended up on the wrong side of results on numerous occasions.
Here, we take a look at 5 reasons which may hinder Atletico Madrid's bid to reclaim their La Liga title this season:
#5 Over-reliance on certain players
The Atletico Madrid team of the past few seasons have proven to be a closely-knit structure, consisting of some essential cogs. Most often when these gears have faltered, the structure has inched closer to the brink of collapse. The likes of Jan Oblak, Kieran Trippier, Koke and recently recruited Luis Suarez make up the bulk of Atletico's core group.
Their rough patch last term coincided with the absence of Trippier and Suarez, losing the raging form they had mustered since the beginning of the campaign. Furthermore, the 34-year-old Uruguayan veteran was solely responsible for 21 of the 67 goals scored by Atletico Madrid in their title-winning season.
Without Suarez's goals or Oblak's electrifying shot-stopping skills, the Spanish giants would've easily succumbed to their mid-season slump, forfeiting their title to either Real Madrid or Barcelona. If any crucial part of Simeone's side gets sidelined in the upcoming season, retaining their title as La Liga champions could soon turn into a Herculean task.
#4 Low goal-scoring stats in the league
As stated earlier, Atletico Madrid only managed to score 67 goals last season, level with second-placed Real and 18 less than Barcelona who finished third. Surprisingly, this was the first time since the 2016-17 season that the Madrid team managed to score more than 60 goals in a single La Liga campaign.
Even though they managed to secure their 11th league title in 2021, Atletico Madrid's past few seasons have persistently shown signs of concern. Their consistently low-scoring goal tally has been a stumbling block for Simeone ever since the Argentine took charge a decade ago.
The current La Liga champions have always finished miles behind their closest rivals in the 'goal for' section. Atletico Madrid have not out-scored either Real Madrid or Barcelona even once since their last league triumph in 2014. With their usually stout defence fumbling at the 11th hour, the team endured their worst streak of conceding goals since 2011.
If something reoccurs, Atletico's title defence may collapse radically, in the absence of a consistent attacking threat.
Also read: 5 reasons why Barcelona can win La Liga (2021-22)