Atletico Madrid 0-0 Celta Vigo: 4 Talking Points

The lack of goals in this Atletico Madrid team is really starting to show as they were kept at bay by a well organised Celta Vigo. The home side began the game well, but Celta found their footing about 20 minutes into the first half.

Atleti lacked the zip and creativity in the final third to unlock this Celta defence. The same could probably be said of the Celta team, except they created a couple of clear scoring opportunities, which is more than what can be said about this Atletico attack.

Ruben Blanco was definitely the busier goalkeeper and made some spectacular saves but they were largely from long-range attempts or set-pieces. Had it not been for Blanco, Atletico might well have been top of the table. As it stands, Atletico move up to 10 points while Celta move up to 5.

Correa makes a bid for starting berth

Correa provided a different dynamic in attack for Atletico

Picture a more tenacious Antoine Griezmann, imagine he's Argentine, probably a shade less skilful and needs to work on his shooting, but Angel Correa fits the bill. He's probably the closest Griezmann replacement Atleti have on their roster at the moment.

The new boy Joao Felix was billed as the Antoine Griezmann replacement because of the sheer amount of money Atletico shelled out for him. But Angel Correa could be a more fitting player in that role with Felix playing out wide as he did against Celta Vigo.

Correa provided more balance to the team contributing in midfield, receiving the ball to feet in advanced areas and turning to run at the opposition defence and showing some good movement around the box. Over the course of the season, Atleti may be glad that his move to AC Milan didn't go through.

Atletico wasteful from set-pieces

Felipe drew a good save from Ruben Blanco at the start of the game

Diego Simeone's side are actually pretty good on set pieces, but there was a feeling of desperation against Celta Vigo. Rather, Keiran Trippier has a good dead-ball delivery and Atletico pack the box with good headers on set pieces. Granted that it's a decent tactic and has worked for them in the past. On the day, however, they were able to get plenty of headers onto the deliveries, particularly from Trippier. That's 13 corners and at least 6 free-kicks in advanced areas, most of them won in the air by Atletico players. They should certainly be doing better from those positions.

Felipe and Costa were able to produce probably the closest efforts. But nearly everyone else headed wide or kept their shot fairly tame. Given the sheer volume of opportunities, Atletico could've nicked a win if they had been able to try something different on at least one of those attempts.

The best is yet to come for Celta Vigo

Aspas was able to bring the likes of Mina and Rafinha around him into play

The visitors at Wanda Metropolitano had plenty of "nearly" moments. Celta Vigo with the talent of Iago Aspas, Rafinha, and Denis Suarez were a constant threat to Atletico's defence, at least till about the 70-minute mark.

Suarez and Rafinha, in particular, were a nightmare to deal with for the Atleti defence who found Rafinha's quick feet too much to handle. Suarez constantly found players running in behind with sublime balls over the top. Atletico were able to step in and prevent any damage, but not every team will be Atletico Madrid.

Celta have already faced Sevilla, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Atletico Madrid in their first five games. This team showed a lot of potential against all of these teams and their performances and results are bound to get better.

There were a lot of questions raised about Celta's defence, but they've shown that they can tighten up when it's needed to eke out a result.

Felix quiet; Fullbacks the attacking outlet

Joao Felix had a frustrating evening against Celta Vigo

Joao Felix had a decent start to life in La Liga but has since faded slightly. He played in two positions against Celta Vigo, starting on the wide right position. He found it more difficult to get into the game. Operating in close spaces, he was unable to take on any defenders in flight as he usually does.

In the second half, he played as a second striker as Correa (and later Vitolo) took up the wide berth. He seemed to improve as Celta started sitting deeper towards the end of the game, but never really unleashed his ability to play that quick interchange around the box or the change of pace that he can show to beat players.

Where he faded to the background, the full-backs really stood out. Both Trippier and Lodi made a good impression with their incessant running and superb deliveries. The Brazilian was the standout performer of the game creating chance after chance with his wonderful crossing, yet no one could take advantage.