In the early morning of December 23, Beijing time, in the 9th round of La Liga, Atletico madrid was reversed by Granada 1-2 away. It is worth mentioning that Atletico suffered four consecutive league defeats for the first time in the Simeone era and have fallen out of the top four.
Atletico now seems to be playing not football in every game, but tragedy. Away to Granada 2-1, Atletico ended 2021 with four consecutive league defeats unheard of in the Simeone era. Next year's transit? It's hard to imagine in its current state. 17 points away from the leader Real Madrid in the standings, and even surpassed by the promoted Ma Vallecano, according to the upward momentum of Barca and Valencia, exiting the top 6 may also be a matter of minutes. The league is like this, and the Champions League side does not dare to make any expectations.
Having traveled all the way through Porto, Real Madrid and Sevilla, Atletico seem to have met opponents who can be crushed at the end of the year. However, Granada has been in solid form lately, having won 2 and drawn 2 in 4 league rounds, and always scored in the last minute, extremely tough. 39-year-old and 8-month veteran striker Jorge Molina just broke the record in the last round, becoming the oldest "hat-wearer" in the history of La Liga and even the five major leagues. Colombian striker Luis Suarez also overshadowed Atletico's namesake Uruguayan, both of whom had a superior performance in the final game of the year.
As with the last game against Sevilla, Atletico would have had a good start. Less than 2 minutes into the opening, Felix came out on top: Lemar was straight at the back, the Portuguese volleyed and turned around, adjusted the angle in front of the penalty area, and a light low shot through the defender's "small goal" and then penetrated the door. Felix was extremely scrappy in this game, fighting for every opportunity 100%, running wildly in half for a long pass and a deep chance, sliding and saving the ball, but was judged to be offside.
However, the fortunes are clearly not on Atletico's side. Almost like the previous round, Oblak was once again the target of the "Fairy Ball". Previously Sevilla's Rakitic, this time it was Darwin Marchis, the Venezuelan striker who pulled away in front of the penalty area and pumped the ball into the net. While it can't be said how much the Atletico defence made for this goal, it is hard to understand that the players should not take a more aggressive approach or blocking in the long-range shots at the top of the arc after falling in the same pit twice in a row.
Atletico's opening momentum quickly dissipated, and then fell into the old routine of desperately suppressing the front but not being prepared for counterattack. Felix originally had two other scoring chances, and only one goal was needed to turn the tide. Unfortunately, it backfired. He scored with a header before the end of the first half, but referee Hernandez thought he was jumping and the decision was invalid. Both the on-site commentator and the off-site referee agreed that this was a misjudgment. Former La Liga referee Itulard analyzed: "The defender retreated and used his back to block Felix. If that can also blow a foul, then the last game deryni pressed Kork's header into the box (and eventually Ocampos scored) was also a foul. ”
Atletico's bad luck doesn't stop there. In the 60th minute, Felix's long-range shot was blocked by the goalpost, and he regretted that Granada had launched a quick counter-attack, sending the ball into the Atletico goal within seconds. The Atletico defence was hands-on to demonstrate the "how to deal with a fast attack" error example: several players in the middle of the road retreated as humbly and slowly as they were in line to buy tickets, Hermoso was easily swept by Puertas, Luis Suarez had enough time to adjust his position before grabbing on Condobia, and Felipe, who was in charge of guarding the last hurdle, enjoyed the goal in the best position of the game, completely leaving the opposing striker Molina behind. A counterattack that was originally 2-on-5 instantly turned into a 3-4, and eventually became a short encounter between the striker and the goalkeeper.
According to Itulard, Molina didn't touch the ball before kicking Oblak and was supposed to blow foul, but VAR focused on whether the pass was offside and didn't care about that detail. Atletico's counter-attack was quite strong, and the players who came on the bench were clearly in better shape. Lemar found nowhere at the back post with a precise cross, Correa was just 5 meters away from the goal, and the volley actually hit the ball high. This is a microcosm of Atletico's recent level of real combat: neither the last kick nor the last breath can be trusted. Atletico's luck was so bad that Granada coach Robert Moreno admitted: "Luck is on our side. Instead of waiting for luck to patronize, it is better to take the initiative to find it. ”
Simeone had a philosophical theory about his team, especially in the media. In the face of the current predicament, this philosophy is becoming more and more like "metaphysics", although it does sound very reasonable. He said: "Sometimes we win some goals that shouldn't have been won, and now we have to lose some games that shouldn't have been lost. All you can do is let go, calm down, train hard and wait for the centre-backs (Jimenez and Savage) to heal. The team is doing well in many ways, and if you settle down and find balance, you can move on. ”
However, the media pointedly pointed out that some of the problems at hand will only get worse and worse. For example, Suarez, obviously in a bad state, has almost no contribution to the whole, and has to be forced into the starting lineup, and he has to lose his temper when he is replaced. Felix added that Cunha was obviously playing better, but he needed to see the face of the top star waiting for the opportunity. Isn't this the housekeeping that Simone should have embarked on? Or is it that, like all the giants where the stars are gathered, he can only accommodate now?
Wen | Wu Yifan
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