Atleti boss under microscope
MADRID: Diego Simeone has called it a transition season for Atletico Madrid but while he was the best man before, results have raised doubts about whether he is right for what comes next.
Atletico play Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League today, needing a victory to guarantee second place in Group D and a spot in the last 16.
Anything less at the Wanda Metropolitano and they will have to match what Bayer Leverkusen manage at home to Juventus, who are unlikely to be at full pelt having already won the group.
In normal circumstances, Atletico would be confident of deeming Leverkusen’s result in Germany irrelevant but disappointment and doubt means faith in the team, and their coach, is wavering. Simeone cannot afford another slip.
A 1-0 defeat at home to Barcelona this month crushed Atletico’s chances of rejoining La Liga’s title race before a draw away at Villarreal on Friday might have made it impossible for another year.
Yet less than an hour after Lionel Messi darted inside and fired a winner into Jan Oblak’s bottom corner, Simeone was framing Atletico’s season in a way he had never done previously.
“You have to understand the enormous amount of change that has taken place in the team and we need time to improve,” he said. “We must understand we are in a year of transition.”
When Antoine Griezmann, Lucas Hernandez, Diego Godin, Rodri, Juanfran and Filipe Luis all departed last summer, the fear was not that Atleti would need time but that they might not recover at all.
Then as the replacements came in, expectations rose. Joao Felix, Hector Herrera, Kieran Trippier, Marcos Llorente, Renan Lodi, Mario Hermoso and Ivan Saponjic all signed, with Felix the headline arrival.
The €126 million Atletico paid Benfica for the Portuguese gem increased hope a new era would usher in a new style too.
But Felix was 19, now 20, and in the starting line-up against Barcelona, there was not a single player over the age of 29. Atletico have lost leadership as Godin, Juanfran and Filipe Luis were respected figures. v Manchester City (both 00.55am)
Group D: Atletico Madrid v Lokomotiv Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen v Juventus