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Rob Palmer, ESPN commentator
Malaga
Friday, 13 December 2024, 17:33
Life couldn't be any sweeter for Atlético Madrid as they hit the perfect 10 - that's 10 wins out of 10 matches. They are ... now in the mix for every competition after being a write-off earlier in the season.
Maybe I was premature in predicting they could win La Liga last season; they proved to be the most underperforming team in Spain.
Further questions were raised about football's longest-serving elite coach in October when they lost back-to-back Champions League games and were outfought by Real Betis.
So it's crazy that six weeks later, I'm rating them as the best current team in the country - my esteemed ESPN colleague Graham Hunter claims they have the best 20-man squad in Europe.
Diego Simeone did what he's always done; he dug in, looked in the mirror, and toughed it out.
While other managers are stricken by a long casualty list. Simeone's squad has a totally clean bill of health. They are the team to be feared at home and abroad.
No club fights like Atlético. They have unique endurance - 12 goals have been scored beyond the 90-minute mark, none more important than the weekend's winner against Sevilla. It leaves them just three points behind Barcelona with a game in hand.
The Champions League campaign that looked doomed in the 92nd minute of game three is very much alive. That day, they scored the clincher in the third minute of additional time to beat PSG. They've followed it up with big wins against Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava.
There's no club in such a healthy position in top-flight football.
Simeone simply went back-to-basics. As brash young managers try to reinvent the game, he reverted to the now unfashionable 4-4-2 formation. Everyone knows their role in the team and if they forget, he has a replacement in every position.
There's competition like no other. There are a couple of untouchables, namely Antoine Griezmann and Julián Álvarez.
Griezmann has unbridled energy now he's retired from international football, reflected by the double-doubles this week. Álvarez seemed a costly investment at €90m, and Manchester City looked to have pulled off an inflated deal. How the English club could do with the ripe talent of Álvarez who has already won every major at the age of 24!
The winning run coincided with bringing in a young player Simeone was reluctant to select. He sports the number 22 shirt with 'Giuliano' on the back. He is the son of Simeone. I'd argue that he works harder than any other player; he needs to do so to please his papa. He is the baby of the team that needed an injection of youth.
The biggest test will come in the final league game of 2024 when they head to Barcelona. Victory could almost win them the title of winter champions at the season's turn.
Right now, it appears that the only thing that could possibly stop them is the "commentator's curse".
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