Atlético de Madrid host PSV Eindhoven this Tuesday for the sixth day of the first phase of the Champions League. He does so reasonably well placed in the ranking, twelfth and only one point from the top 8 which gives direct access to … the round of 16 by avoiding the dangerous previous round of 16. A situation that could be considered comfortable, but in reality it is not so comfortable, since These privileged positions are as close as a whole train of teams ready to take advantage of another setback far from their stadium. to surpass Simeone’s men. And so far this season, without the support of the Metropolitan, the red and whites’ performance has dropped significantly.
The contrast between Atlético’s numbers at home and away It is more than remarkable. In the highest continental competition alone, they have three victories at their stadium, almost all comfortable, 5-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt, 3-1 against Union Saint-Gilloise and 2-1 against Inter Milan, while each European outing has been a disappointment. At Anfield Road they lost 3-2 to Liverpool and at the Emirates Stadium they lost 4-0 to Arteta’s Arsenal.
Now that the end of the first phase is getting closer, The third revalidation arrives, in Eindhoven, a place that will test this trend. The record is not bad, with two wins and a draw in their three previous visits, but the current eminently local nature of the red and white team is not much to get excited about. The Dutch team will not make it easy either, as they are another of those who aspire to secure a place in the top eight, with only one point less than Atlético, having conceded only one defeat, very surprising, on the first day against Union Saint Gilloise, and with triumphs as notable as a 6-2 against Napoli or a 1-4 against Liverpool.
9 out of 24 points in the League
The laziness of Simeone’s team when not surrounded by the four stands of the imposing Metropolitano It’s not just a Champions League story. In the Spanish championship, they have only nine points out of the 24 contested away from home, divided into two wins, three draws and three defeats. Inappropriate figures for a team that intends to fight for the league title against Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It was not until the fifth away match at the Metropolitano, during the tenth day of the championship against Betis, that Atlético managed to add an away victory (0-2). Previously, they lost to Cornellá and could not overcome the draw against Alavés, Mallorca and Celta. Oddly enough, this victory was followed by another close victory at the Coliseum during the Red and White’s best streak in the regularity tournament. A streak that reached seven consecutive victories in the league and that, combined with the disaster of their Madrid neighbors, brought Simeone’s men very close to the lead, in fact with Baena’s 0-1 at the Camp Nou they temporarily touched it with their fingertips. But the red and whites returned to the path of away defeats with the 3-1 final against the Catalans, which could have been even worse and which continued last weekend with the defeat at San Mamés. With these two disastrous outings, Atleti are now fourth, nine points behind Barça and five behind Madrid.
Dryness of goals
Next to Simeone’s approachesor even because of them, much more conservative away from home than in front of their supporters, one of the main reasons for Atlético’s poor performance away from their stadium is the weak contribution of Julián Álvarez and Alexander Sorloth, their two reference attackers.
The Argentine, the undisputed star of the team, has scored ten goals so far this season, but only one as a visitor, in the defeat against Espanyol on the opening day of the League championship. While the Norwegian giant, for its part, scored all its goals, four, under the heat of its supporters. Even Antoine Griezmann has failed to score a goal away from the Metropolitano, despite scoring five this season.
“Almost all teams, except differentials, have problems when playing away. This is the third time that we have lost in La Liga and we are trying to be more attentive in each match to be able to improve,” Cholo justified himself after the last setback in San Mamés. A message that he had already completed before the European clash. “We lack the strength that gets you closer to getting the games back on track. Far from home is the key. If I let myself be guided by the results, they are not positive. If I let myself be guided by Espanyol’s away matches, we did good things. We do not win by force. In 14 years as a visitor, we will have won at some point… You have to be patient: sometimes you have to win and other times you don’t have to win.
Against PSV, Atlético should no longer allow any setbacksas that would make things very tight for the goal of getting through to the round of 16. The red and white team will also have to overcome the losses of Baena and Giménez, Llorente and Lenglet, although they will be able to count on the return of the American Johnny Cardoso.
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