Atletico Madrid are enduring their most difficult season under Diego Simeone with the club’s struggles on the pitch mirroring those that exist off it.
Having won last season’s La Liga title, Atleti’s defence of the trophy has been non-existent as they languish a whopping 16 points off league leaders Real Madrid.
The past week has brought multiple disappointments as they were eliminated from both the Spanish Supercopa and Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad respectively.
Manchester United lie in wait in the Round of 16 in the Champions League – where Simeone’s side stumbled through the group stages in an unconvincing manner.
Los Rojiblancos are in a rotten run of form with just two victories in their past eight matches in all competitions – in which they have lost five games.
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A report has now detailed that the dressing room is less than harmonious with a number of different cliques forming with players not all pulling in the same direction away from the pitch.
Marca detail how multiple ruptures have opened up with the squad and has ensured that they are not fully united this campaign, which has not been the case in previous campaigns under Simeone.
The report claims that these have occurred largely as a result of two of the players who joined the club this summer – midfielder Rodrigo de Paul and the return of forward Antoine Griezmann.
It is claimed that de Paul – an Argentine international who joined from Udinese last year – has a star status that does not sit well with long-serving players in the Atleti dressing room and furthermore, has helped split striker Luis Suarez away from the rest of the group.
De Paul and Suarez are close friends through Lionel Messi – the former played with the star at international level, while Suarez formed a close partnership at Barca – with Suarez now said to no longer be close to other club teammates.
Griezmann’s situation is different; the forward had a number of long-term friendships in the dressing room from his first stint at the club, when he left at 2019 – including captain Koke.
However, the return of the Frenchman has caused problems with it said that his automatic replacing of the in-form Angel Correa in the ‘number 10’ role has cause frustration in the squad.
Correa is one of the most loved and respected figures within Simeone’s squad, and the changing of his role has led to some players questioning the selection.
The poor results on the pitch are said to have exacerbated the divisions within the squad.
It is also highlighted that there are different cliques in the dressing room including a Balkan group consisting of Jan Oblak, Sime Vrsaljko and Stefan Savic (along with Saponjic and last year, Ivo Grbic).
There is also a Portuguese-speaking contingent of Joao Felix, Matheus Cunha, Renan Lodi and Felipe, with Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Lemar also said to be in that group.
Such divisions have helped exacerbate the poor performances, the report claims, with Simeone now hopeful of a run of victories to help salvage the side’s campaign.
