For the second season in a row, Atletico Madrid were runners-up in LaLiga and this is the first time since they’ve finished in the top two for two consecutive seasons since 1972/73 and 1973/74, so it’s quite an achievement.
As has been the case throughout Diego Simeone’s time in charge, the foundation of their success was their excellent defence and they had the best defensive record in the league for the fourth year in a row, with just 29 conceded. Goalkeeper Jan Oblak was also an important reason for this.
The excellent play of Antoine Griezmann and the January arrival of Alvaro Morata helped Atletico too.
However, a lack of squad depth and terrible luck with injuries (the first-team squad suffered over 50 injuries this campaign) prevented Atletico from pushing Barcelona even harder in the title race and also cost them in the Champions League, where they exited at the last 16.
Atletico will hope to have better luck with injuries next season, but they could endure a difficult campaign as they have lost Diego Godin, Juanfran, Lucas Hernandez and Antoine Griezmann in the transfer market, while other starters could also depart.
It will be a summer of rebuilding for Atletico, which makes it an exciting time but which could mean that it’ll take some time for all the new parts to gel.
