Porto 2-1 Atletico Madrid: No Europe, no clean sheets and no identity: Diego Simeone’s side are in crisis

For the past decade or so, there has been no team – no team at all – that has had a more easily identifiable footballing philosophy than Atletico Madrid under manager Diego Simeone.

The legendary Argentine midfielder came in to replace Gregorio Manzano in December 2011 with the team 10th in La Liga and out of the Copa del Rey.

With his disciplined defensive style, Simeone established Atletico as a force both at home and abroad. He has won the league twice, one Copa del Rey and the UEFA Europa League on two occasions, as well as reaching the Champions League final twice.

But those days might be over.

Given that Barcelona were given a group that contained Bayern Munich and Inter Milan you can understand the anger within the Atletico fanbase at failing to even reach the Europa League, not to take anything away from the other three sides.

Speaking after the game, Atleti forward Antoine Griezmann said: “We don’t deserve to go to the round of 16, nor to the Europa League,” adding, “Our fans don’t deserve this.”

Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez echoed his teammate’s realism, saying: “We are going through a tough time. I can’t find an explanation for what happened today, what has happened to us in recent games.”

There were incredible scenes at the end of the game as the only Atletico player to come out and apologise to the away fans was midfielder Saul Niguez. Clearly the fans were not happy, seeming to gesture towards Saul to go and get the others out of the changing rooms.

For a club that has so often presented a united front, things could not be more disharmonious at the moment in the red half of Madrid.

After last week’s catastrophic draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen, where Yannick Carrasco missed a last-minute penalty after full-time had been blown, Atleti found themselves on the end of more late drama at the weekend. Cadiz, with one win in their previous eleven in La Liga, had led 2-0 only to see Joao Felix score twice in the final five minutes of normal time to make it 2-2. But rather than conjure another late goal, Atletico watched as Ruben Sobrino scored a 99th-minute winner.

And that sums up their biggest problem. Atletico are not the same Atletico. In the past it was easier to get blood from a stone than it was to get past Simeone’s brutal defensive structure. Now? It’s an open party. They’ve already let in 12 goals; only one side in Spain’s top seven have conceded more. Nine more have been shipped in Europe.

Over the past few years, people around the club have spoken about wanting to see an evolution, and that includes Simeone. More attacking players were signed and different formations were used that were designed to see more goals, and fewer 1-0s. The problem has been that like a particularly energetic and shouty leopard, Simeone has been unable to change his spots.

Then there’s the Joao Felix problem. The club’s record-signing, Felix was supposed to be the poster-boy of the new era as Atleti beat their richer European rivals to sign one of the best young attacking players in the world. But we are now nearly 30 months on from the Felix signing, and Simeone doesn’t seem any closer to finding a way to use him than he did back in 2019. There are now some very obvious issues and there is every chance Felix might leave in January.

Because it either has to be him or Simeone. The pair clearly cannot work together. Selling their most valuable asset, most probably at a loss, is not a good look, but the long-term impact of losing Simeone might end up being catastrophic. It’s worth reiterating, especially to younger fans, that Atletico are not meant to be in this place.

Before Simeone came they hadn’t won the league since the 1995-96 season, and before that they had spent time in the second division more recently than tasting top-flight success. Heck, their last title before 1996 came in the 1976-77 season. It’s not that they’re not a big club, they’re a massive club. But they are not meant to be able to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona. That Simeone did so twice, often on a fraction of the budget, is remarkable.

There are some reports that Atletico want to extent Simeone’s contract, which expires in the summer of 2024, for a further two years. If that proves to be the case then Atletico need a plan. Because right now for whatever reason it is not working. They have to work out who they want to keep and who they want to sell, and the players they need to buy in order to build a team Simeone can challenge with, both at home and abroad. Young players out on loan such as Manu Sanchez, Rodrigo Riquelme and Samuel Lino are great starting points to freshen up the squad.

It doesn’t feel as if Simeone is finished just yet, but he and the club have to sort out their transfer strategy and how they are going to approach a refresh that – at the current moment – appears absolutely critical.