Atlético’s Cup tragedy in numbers: Same attack as Plzen, led only six out of 570 minutes played

Four factors have made the Champions League so special over the last decade. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, a sovereign Real Madrid and a combative Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone. After Cristiano Ronaldo, the most prestigious club competition in the world also lost Atletico, which definitively finished in the cups on Tuesday.

Porto, Atletico, Leverkusen Brugge. The favourite for first place was clear, but the Spanish side won only one of their six matches and finished last in the group with five points. After the final 1:2 loss in Porto, the Czech athletes’ Facebook fanpage came up with some interesting statistics.

The traditionally weak offense was not saved by the defense

Atleti scored five goals in the group, which is the same as Viktoria Plzeň in the group of death. They came up completely empty three times and led for only six minutes in the entire group stage. That was in the 2-1 win over Porto.

A small lead wouldn’t have been such a problem, last year Atlético led for 34 minutes and still progressed. This year, however, they could not rely on such a solid defence. The nine goals conceded in the group are the most under Diego Simeone.

Fourth place is a disgrace for Spanish clubs

Atletico are used to performing in cups in the spring as well. A fourth place in the Champions League group is a great rarity for Spanish clubs, it happened only for the eighth time.

Five points is not Athletic’s worst performance in the LM. In the 2009/10 edition, they didn’t even win once, only drawing three times. Three points were enough to finish third behind Chelsea and Porto back then, while Atletico were a score better than APOEL Nicosia.

Simeone’s record, which is not pleasing

Simeone’s performance in the cups also remained in the shadow of the end. He coached his 596th game for Atletico, equalling the record of Miguel Muñoz, who led Real Madrid players the same number of times. In the table of coaches at Spanish clubs with the most starts, the Argentine coach will stand alone on Sunday against Espanyol.

Source: Atletico Madrid – EN/SK