In recent weeks, Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has had to answer questions that were all starting to bear the same message: ‘Are you worried about your team’s great form dropping off?’. There is almost an expectation in Spain that sooner or later it will. And, of course, this is no surprise. Few teams ever really challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid for the title. The last time it happened was in 2006-07, when Sevilla threatened the duopoly. After his teams’ draw with Sevilla – a result that saw Atletico squander a golden chance to go clear at the top – Simeone faced a barrage of such questions in the press conference to which he responded, “This was Sevilla, why should this affect our morale. We are happy, we have fifty points after 20 games, it is an extraordinary record and a draw against Sevilla is a good result as it allows us to remain in a privileged position”.
And he was right. Atletico have had a fine season so why should it matter that they drew against a competitive side like Sevilla? Indeed, the fact that the Sevillanos celebrated their draw like it was a victory – something more often associated when teams prise a point away from Real Madrid and Barca – was a kind of affirmation that Atletico really are one of the big boys now.
Yet, Atletico’s place alongside their title rivals is not assured, mainly due to the massive financial golf that lies between them and Spain’s ‘big two’. Hence, it is on the pitch that they have to continually prove themselves and any slip up will always been seen as the beginning of the end of their posing as league contenders. But, if the draw against Sevilla was a letdown, Simeone’s men quashed any such fears that their ride at the top was over with a well-deserved win away to Rayo on Sunday night.
It was not the most complete performance from Los Colchones, which literally means ‘the mattresses’. They were outplayed in terms of possession and chances were fifty-fifty, meaning the game really could have gone either way. But, that visitor’s extra quality proved the difference. Thibaut Courtois was brilliant in goal, again, and saved an early penalty. At the other end, Diego Costa was instrumental in two of Atletico’s goals while Arda Turan scored just his second brace since arriving in Spain and in doing so became the second highest-scoring Turkish player in La Liga history.
Simeone was understandably not over the moon with the performance. He bemoaned the amount of space between the lines that allowed Rayo to enjoy so much possession. He will certainly be hoping for better in the next game against Athletic Bilbao and, if another positive result is to be achieved, then certainly an improved performance is required. But, as is starting to be seen now, things will get tougher for Atletico, especially because they simply do not have the same riches on the field as do Barca or Madrid. Simeone knows this himself, pointing out a week ago that “the second half of the season is always much tougher than the first”.
However, this hardly seems the case for Real Madrid thus far. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are in cruise control. After their victory on Saturday at home to Granada, los Blancos have now won five in a row – in the last four they have not conceded a single goal. Everything is falling into place it seems at Casa Blanca. Even Karim Benzema, so often criticised by his own fans, is scoring goals. The Frenchman has scored six in his last seven at the Santiago Bernabeu, which has kept the home crowd happy for now at least.
Meanwhile, it was all smiles too at Camp Nou. Xavi made his 700th appearance for the club as the Blaugrana notched up a comfortable 3-0 win over Malaga. They again share the lead with Atletico with Madrid just a point behind. It really is a close race for the title and, refreshingly, one that not only consists of Barca and Madrid. In fact, it is the closest title race since 1970-71, when Valencia were the team upsetting the apple cart. A good omen for Atleti is that Los Che actually went on to win the title back then.
