Atletico Madrid Need to Unleash Their Attacking Power Against Sporting Gijon

Sporting Gijon are one of those clubs that often tend to catch you out when you’re asked to name as many LaLiga outfits as you can.

In the past 10 years, the club from Asturias in northern Spain have spent five seasons in the top flight and five in the second tier, but one of the few constants about their existence has been routine and convincing defeats at the hands of Spain’s top sides.

Luis Suarez scored four goals as Barcelona beat them 6-0 at the Camp Nou last season, and the Catalans have won 12 of the past 13 meetings between the teams, with 6-1, 4-1 and 4-0 among the results.

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Real Madrid shared the goals around their "BBC" front line in a 5-1 Bernabeu win over Sporting in January, and a run of 11 wins in 14 against them includes a selection of three- and four-goal victories and a convincing 7-1 result.

What has all this got to do with anything on these pages, you might ask?

Well so much of what Atletico Madrid admirably try to achieve has to contend with the gravitas of those two, with football’s very nature as a zero-sum game not often considered. If Barcelona and Real Madrid succeed—and they usually do succeed—then that leaves less success which is available for Atletico.

The way Diego Simeone has seen his team evolve in his image over almost five years in the job looks all the more impressive whenever you compare it to just what he is up against, but after a couple of seasons of near-misses, there is a growing sense the Argentinian needs to look to his rivals for inspiration this term.

Atletico face a home game against Sporting on Saturday afternoon, and the type of convincing win often enjoyed by Barcelona and Real Madrid against this opposition should be the aim.

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But it was Sporting who put a huge dent in what was a growing Atletico title challenge by coming from a goal down to beat Simeone’s men in March, with the two crucial goals coming in the final 11 minutes.

Indeed, Atletico have failed to win at Sporting for the past three seasons, and so it is fortuitous for them that this clash comes at home. Having said that, it took a last-gasp Antoine Griezmann goal for them to snatch all three points against them in a 1-0 victory at the Vicente Calderon in the last meeting there in November.

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In this campaign—the last at the Calderon—Atletico could do with another convincing display to get up and running in their domestic efforts. It looked as though one wasn’t going to come at Celta Vigo last weekend, only for four second-half goals to restore smiles to Atleti faces.

But as Simeone will know, playing at home will be a different matter entirely.

You can expect to see Sporting get men behind the ball and look to frustrate their hosts, just as Alaves did in Atletico’s only previous home game in this campaign.

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Their commitment to getting players between the ball—and their goal was hugely admirable—and although they were undone in stoppage time with the concession of a late penalty, they still showed enough character to pick themselves up and force a quick equaliser at the other end.

When a team plays in this way—a way Alaves repeated in their terrific 2-1 victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou last weekend—then it is down to your team's "special" players to break them down and force the issue.

Given their historical results, both Barcelona and Real Madrid have obviously managed to do this time and again, but that shouldn’t be too surprising given they possess the riches to buy the best attacking players in the world and players who have the ability to unpick even the tightest of locks.

Atletico have never quite had the same sort of stars, and that is something Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Graham Hunter touched upon when discussing some of Simeone’s problems earlier in the season following back-to-back draws with newly promoted pair Alaves and Leganes.

In a video interview with Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague, Hunter mentioned Atletico’s lack of penetration and guile when facing packed defences, saying:

"

[They need a guy] who can stop that maddening storm, and create something calm and cutting.

I think that part of the reason [for Atletico's poor form] is that they don’t quite have enough of that 'can opener' moment in tight games.

"

So who can be the can opener?

Against Celta Vigo last weekend, it came from the most obvious candidate in Antoine Griezmann, who pulled out wide before sending in a superb cross for the onrushing Koke to fire home. Griezmann would later score two goals himself as Atletico ran out 4-0 winners.

That sort of thing wasn’t happening in Atletico’s opening two league games of the season, with Simeone clearly telling his players that getting into the box was crucial if they wanted to create more scoring chances.

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The manager has thankfully realised the error of his ways and freed his midfielders a little more by dropping the extra man in the middle that we saw against both Alaves and Leganes, with Tiago proving redundant in the former game before being withdrawn at half-time, and Augusto Fernandez not needed in the latter.

Against Celta Vigo neither man started, with Gabi more than capable of holding the fort in the centre of the pitch and Saul Niguez and Koke working hard either side of him.

In terms of "can openers," Griezmann seemed much happier knowing that there were more players getting forward around him, and although Yannick Ferreira Carrasco didn’t have his greatest game, he was at least getting into advanced positions and offering for a pass that didn’t exist in the opening two league games.

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Nicolas Gaitan will also come into contention for a start, and with Angel Correa having found the net after coming off the bench in Vigo, the attacking options are plentiful for Simeone ahead of a game that—if you take into account takes place over 24 hours before league leaders Real Madrid go to Espanyol—could serve as a huge shot in the arm for the club’s title chances.

Win, and they’ll be a point behind their city rivals who are top of the table.

Win well, and all of the negativity that was building up following the opening two league results will be blown away, with the victory at Celta Vigo further evidence this is a team back on track.

So much of what Atletico do seems to fly in the face of the two clubs they love to take on and love to beat, but taking a leaf out of Barca and Real’s book would be advisable as they line up against Sporting, a club always in and out of LaLiga, but one who act as lame ducks to the big boys.