Why It's Vital That Atletico Madrid Make a Strong Statement Against Granada
The end of what has seemed like one of the longest international breaks ever has brought widespread celebrations, but for Atletico Madrid supporters, it might be met with a tinge of trepidation.
They’d have enjoyed these past couple of weeks taking the odd glance at the Liga table in between the various distractions on offer. It looks good to them.
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Atletico’s win at Valencia at the beginning of October was cause enough for celebration, but then to see Real Madrid drop points at home to Eibar and Barcelona lose 4-3 at Celta Vigo was like a dream for Diego Simeone’s side.
They’ve spent the two weeks before Matchday 8 at the top of La Liga, but by the time they kick off against Granada on Saturday evening, they could well be down in third, below Sevilla and Barcelona.
There’s nothing to worry about in that sense, of course, and it is doubtful Simeone would even show his players the table prior to kick-off, but if the match at the Vicente Calderon doesn’t start in a manner that gets the home fans off their seats, then it could quickly become difficult.
Granada arrive as cannon fodder, a club that should be being swept aside by any team good enough to be top of the league.
They’re winless, losing five of their seven matches so far—a run that cost manager Paco Jemez his job shortly before their recent match against Leganes. He’d only been there for six games.
In his stead has come local favourite Lucas Alcaraz for a third stint as the club’s boss, following previous tenures between 1995 and 1998 and the 2013-14 season. Since that most recent spell ended, six different managers have sat in the home dugout at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes. That’s the kind of club they are.
But these are the kind of teams Atletico have to beat.
The opening weeks of La Liga have seen a trend developing, with the smaller sides going to the bigger outfits and grinding out results. Alaves won at Barcelona after drawing at Atletico, while Eibar drew at Real Madrid. All three have dropped more points when victories looked assured.
The key question, of course, is whether Granada are good enough to follow suit after their various trials and tribulations this season.
Alcaraz is likely to have written this game off already, and he certainly shouldn’t be judged upon it. But he’ll organise his team, get them behind the ball and make life difficult for his opponents.
Finding a way through packed defences has turned into something of a specialist subject for Simeone and Atletico ever since those early disappointing draws against Alaves and Leganes. They’ve won six out of the following seven games, only failing to beat the one team they conceded a goal to, Barcelona.
The key to those results has been the increased fluidity and chemistry of the more attacking approach Simeone is looking to implement, and it has led to an almost total reversal of their approach from the past, when set-piece situations were a huge part of their armoury.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague analysed this for Sky Sports just after the Valencia clash, pointing out:
"[Atletico are] one of only four teams in La Liga yet to score from a set-piece this season. There's much greater emphasis on their quality in open play.
In 2014/15, Atletico scored only 30 goals from open play [in the league]. Real Madrid and Barcelona scored over 80 each (both 86). Last [season] Atletico upped that to 50 (Barca 82, Real 83). Now they are almost keeping up with the big two (this season so far: Atletico 12, Barca 16, Real 13).
And the projection now is for 65 goals from open play, more than double the amount from two seasons ago. Much closer to Barca and Real. Simeone has let the handbrake off.
In the home game against Sporting Gijon he did just that by picking a four-man midfield of Nicolas Gaitan, Saul [Niguez], Koke and Yannick-Ferreira Carrasco. All very offensive.
They won the game 5-0.
"
And it is that game that is sure to be uppermost in the manager’s mind ahead of Saturday evening, as it represents the only time this season that Atletico have blown away opponents whose sole purpose was to arrive at the Calderon and frustrate them.
As always after international breaks, there are sure to be several selection issues facing Simeone depending on how far players have travelled and in what condition they have returned in, with priority perhaps given to some of those who have been with him in training during the break such as Gabi and Fernando Torres.
The latter scored in a 3-0 win over Granada at the Calderon in April, and that will be the script Atletico will be looking to follow again this time around—especially with a Champions League trip to Russia to face FC Rostov looming on the horizon.
That will present its own logistical and preparation problems, but for Simeone, it’s all about gathering his squad back together again, congratulating some on impressive international displays—Kevin Gameiro scored twice for France against Bulgaria, while Jan Oblak kept a clean sheet for Slovenia against England—and getting going again.
This rather stop-start period of the season, punctuated by three international breaks, is difficult for top managers, but the key is surely to approach matches in small chunks.
After the last break, Atletico won 4-0 at Celta Vigo—where Barca lost—and followed that up with five wins and a draw, dispelling the negativity that had surrounded the slow start to the campaign.
This time around, it is different.
There are six games between now and the next break, which begins in early November, but given Atletico are going into the stretch in such good form, it will be all about the preservation of performances and making a statement that they are intending to stay on the top of the Liga table for as long as possible.
Words such as those from the Barcelona forward Paco Alcacer—who told Cadena Cope (via Samuel Marsden of ESPN FC), that Atletico are "doing better recently, and it's more difficult to beat them [than Real] because of their style of play"—are likely to be music to Simeone’s ears.
He wants his rivals to be talking about his side and thinking about them, as he will almost certainly feel as though the game is afoot now. The title challenge is starting here.
This batch of six games—with a big test at Sevilla to come in Week 9, following the Russia trip—is a perfect chance to lay down a marker.
It all starts with Granada at home on Saturday, when Atletico know a win will keep them top of a table they’ve enjoyed looking at recently.
And want to enjoy looking at for a lot longer.
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