Atletico Madrid Must Refocus After Sporting Loss to Salvage Any Success

"The objective marked by the club was to finish third, and we will keep fighting," said Diego Simeone after watching his team crumble 2-1 against Sporting Gijon at a raucous El Molinon on Saturday. "After this defeat, to want to be champions is impossible."

Per Sport, the coach also said he was proud of his players despite losing against Abelardo's men, who had lost their previous four games and had not scored in the most recent three.

And they struck twice against an Atletico side that had only let in 12 league goals all season in 29 games—eight if you take out the two Barcelona matches. Atletico Madrid’s second half was a shambles.

They created few opportunities as Simeone employed increasingly defensive tactics and personnel, taking off forwards and bringing on Gabi and Juanfran.

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Playing in this way has earned the Argentinian and Atletico great success in the past, but there’s a time and a place. Against a team in the relegation zone, perhaps a more prudent tactic would have been to try and kill the game by going for a second.

Sporting remained in the bottom three despite having won a victory that would even have surprised themselves.

The capital side remained eight points behind Barcelona, which could become 11 if the Blaugrana beat Villarreal on Sunday afternoon.

Atletico’s defensive security has been damaged by Diego Godin’s injury, which could keep him out until after the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final clash with Barcelona on April 5.

To make matters worse, Jose Gimenez appeared to hurt his hamstring against Sporting and is also a doubt for that game, per Sport.

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That will give Simeone’s side a big problem. Lucas Hernandez has impressed when given the chance, and against Sporting he was mostly good, although he lost confidence in the latter stages as the Asturians fought back.

The rest of Atletico’s season depends on the Champions League, which is unfortunate as they were drawn against the Primera Division leaders, reigning European champions and best team in the world.

Two seasons ago, it seemed Atletico had a hold over Barcelona, with the Catalans unable to beat them in six matches. But the last six encounters between the teams have all resulted in wins for Luis Enrique’s side.

Lucho has a 100 per cent record against Atletico with Barcelona, beating them twice last season in the league, the second of which won his team the title at the Vicente Calderon.

They have also beaten Atletico twice in the Copa del Rey, also last season, and twice in La Liga this term.

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The forthcoming Champions League quarter-final clash gives Barcelona a further chance for revenge; Tata Martino's Barca were knocked out in the 2013-14 tournament by Simeone's side, 2-1 on aggregate.

For Atletico to have any chance of overcoming Barcelona, they need to pick themselves up quickly.

Simeone is one of the best managers around when it comes to motivation, so he can refocus the team better than anyone.

It would be easy for heads to drop, with players believing the league is over and the doubleheader against Barcelona too tough to progress from.

But if any team in the world is equipped to see off the Catalans, it might well be Atletico—at least if the defence is at full strength.

For the season to be saved, Atletico need a bit of luck, the injuries to clear up and hearts and minds to stay where Simeone usually has them: at his beck and call.