Simeone faces a stiff challenge

It’s a big day for ‘Cholismo’, which seems to be struggling at the moment. The draw at home to Valencia has hurt the team, as it casts a doubt over who will secure the third position and sees the team on a run that would have been difficult to see happen with last year’s Atleti. In the team’s last 14 games, they have recorded: five defeats, four draws and five wins. In the last six games, just one win. This is the situation as they face Bayer Leverkusen tonight, with a 1-0 deficit to overcome. A complicated score line and one that statistics show a 35% possibility of turning around.

This is not the same Atleti. It’s impossible that it could be without Courtois, Filipe Luis or Diego Costa, three players who meant so much. But there are other areas that are integral to this situation, the obsession of struggle, to fight for every ball and a heavy emphasis over positioning. The “Cholo” model had an element of Zen to the “game by game” philosophy, but in essence focused on a constant battle with physical and psychological side effects. Occasionally we can still see echoes of this in a handful of games but not in all matches. At times, once can see cracks and distractions. Now it is clear that not all players each game as if it were the last.

Fortunately, the players are well aware if just how crucial this evening’s game is, and it is. The atmosphere will be excellent, similar to that of the infamous 4-0 win in the Madrid derby. Griezmann is playing fantastically, Mandzukic is angry and with something to prove and Torres is available as an alternative in attack. Koke and Arda are sharp. The rest will do their bit too. Bayer are on a run of five games with conceding a goal, but now it’s time. The problem is that Atleti really need to score three to shore up the game. With a 1-0 deficit from the first leg, you can be ahead 2-0 with ten minutes to go and panic can set in. I’ll say it again, today is a huge day for ‘Cholismo’.

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