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Simeone seeks right attacking blend to reignite Atletico

Published : Saturday, 25 September, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 594

MADRID, SEPT 24: "The gunman is back," read the headline in Marca and Atletico Madrid fans will hope the team is too.
Luis Suarez scored twice, including a 90th-minute winner, to complete a late turnaround against Getafe on Tuesday and return the reigning champions to the top of the La Liga table. They would quickly surrender first place to Real Madrid, who put six past Mallorca a day later, but the sight of Suarez settling games again rekindled memories of what took Atleti to the title three months ago.
Suarez's 21 goals were the driving force but there have been concerns about the Uruguayan this season, his fitness, sharpness and ability to stoke the fires that burned so bright after his bitter departure from Barcelona.
Scruffy touches and rusty finishing have been symptomatic of Atletico overall, a flatness raising suspicions these players may lack as champions some of the hunger and tenacity they had as challengers. "We're not where we want to be," said Diego Simeone on Tuesday.
Atletico can still defend - they have conceded five times in their opening seven games - and their knack of snatching points in the dying minutes remains very much intact. Suarez's late winner against Getafe came after goals in the 90th minutes against Villarreal and Espanyol.
Unlike Real Madrid and Barcelona, Atletico were bolstered not weakened in the summer transfer window, with Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo de Paul arriving and the framework of last season's side left almost entirely untouched.
Real Madrid might have the outstanding player in the league in Karim Benzema but Atletico arguably have the best squad. Against Athletic Club last weekend, Simeone was able to bring on Suarez, Joao Felix and Yannick Carrasco in the second half.
But while those changes revealed a strength in depth they also demonstrate some fuzzy thinking from Simeone so far, the Argentinian yet to solve a conundrum that could make or break the defence of their title.
Suarez, Felix, Griezmann and Correa is an attacking quartet that would be the envy of most teams in Europe, let alone Spain, yet none of the combinations picked have quite convinced. Suarez was renowned at Barcelona for needing time in August and September to find fitness and sharpness, and the hope will be after his intervention against Getafe that he is almost there.
There are fewer flickers of form though from Griezmann, who is still adapting to a very different Atletico to the one that he left. He is a different player as well, with scar tissue perhaps unavoidable following a turbulent two years at Camp Nou.    -AFP








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