Atletico Madrid Must Show Clinical Edge to Challenge Barcelona for La Liga Title

Atletico Madrid moved into second place in La Liga with a 1-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday evening, taking the points thanks to an early goal from Koke.

An eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions has seen Los Colchoneros overhaul Real Madrid in the league, taking advantage of their rivals' back-to-back defeats, but they are still chasing down a Barcelona side that has now scored the most goals in La Liga, 29 in 12 games, far ahead of Atleti's own tally of 17.

While nobody expects Diego Simeone's team to start rattling in four and five per match as Barca are capable of, Atletico must start showing more consistency and a clinical edge in front of goal to ensure they don't drop needless points and maintain pressure on the top side in their title bid this season.

Griezmann's Off Day

It's important to note Atletico created a lot of good chances against Betis, easily enough to have won the game several times over before the fixture entered its final stages and the home side sensed the chance to steal a point late on.

Antoine Griezmann, Atleti's best forward and top scorer with five in La Liga so far this season, was a chief culprit on this occasion as he squandered at least three extremely clear chances—opportunities to score or set up a team-mate from close range he would normally snaffle up with confidence and ease.

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As noted by B/R's Sam Tighe postgame, the French forward was unfortunate too—hitting the woodwork and being denied a clear penalty—but he would normally be counted on to put away at least one of the chances presented to him inside the box. Going forward, he's the main player the team will look toward to score in any given fixture, and he would expect to improve in his consistency in finding the net as the season goes on too.

He was far from the only one who couldn't finish his chances for the Rojiblancos, though.

2nd-Line Threat

Atleti's early goal in the match came from a route not often enough seen by the team: a midfielder breaking high into the penalty area and following up a shot. Koke delivered the final touch, his second Liga goal of the season, after the impressive Fernando Torres saw his initial shot saved. But after that point, it was a rare sight to see one of Atleti's three starting central midfielders penetrate the 18-yard line.

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco off the left and Griezmann, starting from the right in the three-man attack, continually carried the ball into the attacking third with penetrative dribbles and good pace, but there was little in the way of a scoring threat from anyone else.

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Set pieces have been noted as a disappointment for Atleti this season after they have shown great prowess from such routes to goal previously, but even in open play, there is rarely an occasion when either full-back has been in position to shoot. The starting central midfielders, Tiago and Gabi, have taken just 14 shots between them this season, per WhoScored.com, yielding one goal for the former.

If the strikers are scoring plenty and the midfield simply provides the service continually, it's fine and the system would clearly be working well. As it is, though, with Atleti not rattling in plenty from the front two or three, those behind them need to contribute more.

Koke did so this time, and Atleti won the points as a result.

Defence

Atletico have the best defence in the league in terms of goals conceded—just six in their 12 Liga matches so far—but Jan Oblak and co. won't always be able to hold out.

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The Slovenian 'keeper made a stunning one-handed save in the second half from a fierce drive and was assured in his handling with high balls into the area late on in the game, but it's inevitable that somewhere along the line, an opponent will best Diego Godin and his fellow defenders and punish Atletico if they continue to show such profligacy in the other penalty box.

Oblak has seven clean sheets in La Liga this term, and backing themselves to defend well through certain parts of games will remain in Atleti's DNA, but they must fix a few consistency issues at the other end if they are to maintain the sort of relentless win rate required to lift the title once more.

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