A Progress Report on Atletico Madrid Heading into October International Break

Atletico Madrid, like the rest of La Liga, now face two weeks without a fixture as the latest international break interrupts domestic action.

Following the 1-1 draw in the local derby against Real Madrid, Atleti sit in fifth place in the league table after seven rounds of matches and have played twice in the Champions League too—enough competitive action for us to look at how the season has started and note how happy, or otherwise, los Colchoneros should be.

Style and Signings

Atletico spent big in the summer and most of their outlay went on attacking reinforcements. With Arda Turan, Mario Suarez and Mario Mandzukic all departing there was money to spend, but not all the new faces have immediately settled into life at the Vicente Calderon with the quality and consistency hoped for.

Luciano Vietto had offered little in the way of his talent and match-winning ability until the weekend, when he scuffed in a late equaliser against Real. Jackson Martinez has been on-and-off with his own form, showing at times the movement and shooting ability that made him a danger at Porto—but failing to link well, hold the ball up or be enough of a threat in the box in other matches.

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Atleti are still a little off the pace in terms of playing at their highest intensity, most life-sapping tempo in midfield where the challenges fly in and the ball moves quickly from defence to attack. The best part about that for Diego Simeone and Co is that it hasn't overly affected the points tally.

With the likes of Koke out injured and Gabi not playing to his best level, it's understandable that the midfield has taken a hit in performance level—Matias Kranevitter's impending arrival will be well-received in winter.

Liga and Champions League

As mentioned, the form might not be top class, but the points return has been respectable. Four wins, one draw and two defeats make up Atleti's start to this Liga season—defeats coming against current leaders Villarreal, and reigning champions Barcelona, so no silly dropped points or disappointing failures to swat aside minute teams.

Even the draw, against Real, can be seen as a positive considering Real themselves have drawn against Sporting Gijon and Malaga, and Barcelona were heavily beaten by Celta Vigo as well as losing to Sevilla.

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It remains tight at the top, five teams separated by three points, with Atleti knowing they have a reasonable run of games coming up: Real Sociedad and Valencia are both struggling, and Deportivo La Coruna are flying but certainly beatable and then two promoted teams, Sporting and Real Betis.

In the Champions League, Atletico should be fine but have won one and lost one: Galatasaray were vanquished on the road, but Benfica triumphed at the Calderon. A clinical edge was required and not found in that second game, proving costly.

Room for improvement, but no tremendous worries at this point, then.

Simeone and Beyond

Manager Simeone knows only too well that his team will need to improve further as the season goes on, but he also knows that the next few months offer an opportunity to probably put some ground between his team and one of the title challengers, on account of Barcelona's squad depth issues.

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It will be extremely interesting to see the sort of team Simeone puts out for the Copa del Rey—but that doesn't involve Atleti until December, so fitness and form around that time will dictate much.

With the likes of Angel Correa providing an additional talent to fit into the team, Antoine Griezmann in scoring form when up front and Jan Oblak and Josema Gimenez showing good consistency, there is plenty of growth left in this Atleti side.

Consistency is key now in the coming weeks for Atleti as they look to establish themselves as one of the front-runners for La Liga title, but for now it's certainly a case of a decent start, but with much more to come.

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