Diego Simeone said from early on that 2019/20 would be “a transition year” for Atletico Madrid. This was a fair statement to make considering they’d lost half their starters last summer and had had to replace them.
Atletico certainly didn’t compete as well as they have done in recent campaigns, but they were never that bad. They only lost four league matches all season, but it was the 16 draws – a club record – that meant they were never really in the title race.
Although they suffered Copa del Rey embarrassment by losing to lower league Cultural Leonesa and suffered Super Cup heartbreak by losing to Real Madrid on penalties in the final, they exceeded expectations by producing some of their best football this season in their Champions League last 16 win against Liverpool.
Marcos Llorente was great in that game as he moved into a more attacking position and he was also excellent after the return from the coronavirus pause as he helped the team seal an eighth straight top-three finish. Also impressive were midfielders Koke, Saul and Thomas Partey, while Jan Oblak was as reliable as ever in goals.
In terms of personnel, the big disappointment was last summer’s big money signing Joao Felix. He missed a lot of time with injury and simply couldn’t replicate what Antoine Griezmann used to do, meaning Atletico lacked firepower up front.
Now, though, they’ve come through this transition year and the future looks bright. Plus, they’re still alive in the Champions League and have a quarter-final vs RB Leipzig in August.
