Atletico started this year's Champions League with a 0-0 draw with Roma in Italy. Two weeks later, they suffered a bitter 1-2 defeat to Chelsea at home.
Atletico cannot be blamed for having to play away at the Olimpico of a Roma side on the rise and the somewhat "accursed" loss to Chelsea was more than their poor form.
However, when visiting Qarabarg - a small club in Azerbaijan, the La Liga representative continued to leave with a gloomy face when drawing with the home team without a goal. Thus, Atletico ended the first leg of Group C with 2 points/3 matches and almost had no chance to decide their own fate.
With that in the Champions League, the La Liga arena is not much better for Atletico. They are 6 points behind leaders Barcelona. Unlike other national championships, in La Liga, being behind the top team (usually Real or Barca) by 2 wins means the dream of winning the championship is no longer within reach.
Where is Atletico's problem? That is the old ways of playing and the people who are on the payroll of this club. After the success of the Champions League 2014 and 2016 with the runner-up title, and the La Liga 2014 championship, the squad and playing style of this club have not changed much.
In the past 3 years, the most anticipated star in attack is Antoine Griezmann. Since Diego Costa moved to Chelsea, the scoring responsibility has been assigned to Griezmann. When this striker flourishes, Atletico will have good results and vice versa. The problem of how to limit Atletico's attacks was solved by a small team like Qarabarg, killing Griezmann.
Indeed, the match in Azerbaijan between the two teams last night was more of a fight than a football match. The two teams had a total of 27 fouls and Qarabarg played with one less player in the 75th minute after striker Ndlovu received a second yellow card. Having understood Atletico's strongest point, Griezmann, the home team did not hesitate to play hard to make the striker lose his foot and as a result, when Griezmann failed to score, Atletico could not score.
Still using the familiar 4-4-2 formation that has been used for many recent years, Simeone seems to have... run out of cards. The central midfield duo Gabi and Saul are still playing well together but their efficiency is not high. With Griezmann starving up, both Saul and Gabi had no other ideas besides long passes waiting for breakthroughs from their teammates.
That said, it shows how much influence UEFA's transfer ban for Atletico is. With just one transfer window without a personnel increase, Atletico have been held to a draw by a team like Qarabarg. Just ask, when the season enters its most intense stage, how will Simeone and his students " live"?
