The longer it went on, the less the predictable inevitability became. But last weekend, it finally happened – Real Madrid's win at Celta Vigo lifted them above Atletico Madrid, who were beaten at home to Real Sociedad.
La Real became the first team to win in La Liga at the Vicente Calderon this season – no visiting team had even taken a point in the League before them. It was the culmination of a dip in form for Los Rojiblancos, before, when they lost at Rayo or fired blanks in Malaga, they could at least point to their home form. Now even that's been taken from them.
Diego Simeone has had a near flawless 16 months in charge of Atleti. From winning the Europa League to qualifying for this year’s Copa del Rey Final, everything he has done has raised expectations at Madrid's second club. But now, with them raised, with Real Madrid moving back ahead of them and the Copa del Rey and second place up for stakes, there's an argument that he's now facing a real managerial test.
This week both AS and Marca ran stories implying Atletico are trying new things in training and on Thursday they trained behind closed doors at Ciudad Deportiva de Majadahonda, playing against both the B team and the Juvenile team. Against a deep Real Sociedad back-line last weekend, the team were criticised for sticking to a plan A that wasn’t working, with the players seen as, for example, continuing to play balls into spaces that were shut out the first time and that were remaining shut.
On the outside it is seen that their work in training is a reaction to a growing fear that they have perhaps become too one-dimensional. It is a concern that the statistics can certainly back up.
Radamel Falcao has scored 21 goals this season – eight from the penalty spot – out of Atleti's total in the Primera of 48. That equals 44 per cent of their goals, with just 27 coming from other sources. After the Colombian, Diego Costa, Arda Turan and Raul Garcia top the scoring charts with a meagre four each – extra emphasis needs to fall on Costa, recently called up to the Brazil squad and with a healthy scoring record at Rayo Vallecano last season.
These numbers become particularly relevant now, as Atletico slightly stutter. In their last seven games – in which they have won three, lost three, drawn one – they have scored just six goals, at an average of 0.86 goals a match. Over the course of the season they have averaged 1.78, dragged down by the recent goal drought in which they've scored just one penalty in their last three outings.
It would be logical, of course, to suggest similar stats would apply to Barcelona and Real Madrid. However, a look at their goals – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo aside – reveals they have scored 45 and 40 respectively, that's almost as many as Atletico when including Falcao's contribution.
Perhaps most frustratingly for Los Rojiblancos is that throughout this dry patch, their defence has remained watertight. They have conceded just six in those last seven games, and remain the team with the best goals against column in La Liga, conceding just 24 in their 27 games.
El Cholo's old friend Hernan Crespo has been overseeing Atleti training this week and commented on how they 'work with the obligation of doing things right, with a lot of intensity'. It's not necessarily the intensity they've completely lacked.
Simeone told a Press conference on Wednesday that they 'have to keep pushing to have that fluidity in the final phase'. He's pretty much right, and innovative ways to do that look to have been top of the agenda in training this week. With their perfect home record gone, they need to focus on new ways to start scoring goals again – beginning at Osasuna on Sunday.
