La Liga 2019-20: Atletico Madrid's ideal lineup this season

Antoine Griezmann spent five seasons at Atletico Madrid, becoming one of the most sought after forwards under Diego Simeone before completing a long rumoured move to Barcelona. Rodri spent just one season at Atletico Madrid and was hailed as the successor to Sergio Busquets for Spain before Manchester City came calling. Another World Cup winner with France, Lucas Hernandez was just about coming into his own at Atleti and was snatched up by Bayern Munich. Three stalwarts of defence in Diego Godin, Felipe Luis, and Juanfran have left and found new pastures in Italy and Brazil.

Some of the shearing conscious, others opportunistic, but Atletico has the look of a rebuild this summer as it let go of these six key players. A familiar narrative for Atletico, as a significant number of them head to bigger fish, but this time its on a larger scale.

The personnel will change, but as long as El Cholo is at the reins, the system or style will remain the same. Joao Felix, Mario Hermoso, Felipe, Renan Lodi, Marcos Llorente, Hector Herrera and Kieran Trippier have all been brought in to be indoctrinated and adapted to the hulking machine that is Simeone's Atletico Madrid.

Simeone's team usually form a compact 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1

They will line up in a familiar and compact 4-4-2 set to absorb pressure and spring on the counter. The players and their qualities will differ, but in principle, they will be ask to perform similar roles.

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#4 Goalkeeper

The wall that ensures Atletico has the best defensive record has a foundation called Oblak

Having lost a host of players this summer, Atletico are fortunate that no one has come calling for their star goalkeeper Jan Oblak. He has the ability and experience to be a key difference maker on any day, but particularly days when the defence in front of him isn't on top of its game.

Oblak was drafted in after Thibaut Courtois was recalled to Chelsea in 2014 and has since then built his reputation from a good talent to an absolute world-class custodian.

#3 Defenders

Gimenez was busy with Uruguay at the Copa America in the summer

Atletico Madrid had the staunchest defence in La Liga in 2018-19 conceding a meagre 26 goals, but surprising no one. They had no right to that record with constant injuries to many defenders. Jose Gimenez, Diego Godin, and Hernandez were all ruled out by injuries at different times of the season forcing Simeone to adapt and put forth a patchwork defence of the best back four available to him.

This season is likely to see largely new players integrated into the back four. Stefan Savic and Mario Hermoso have been the dominant centre-back pairing for Simeone in pre-season, although the recent return from vacation of the Uruguayan, Jose Maria Gimenez would put a dent in that. As we crawl towards the start of the La Liga season, Gimenez and Hermoso could be Atleti's defensive base.

Another recent addition to training, Renan Lodi will be expected to be starting at left-back. 18-year-old Manu Sanchez has been filling in for him so far, during the active season, though, Hermoso can be a potential deputy for him.

At right-back is England's Trippier, who was recently added to the squad from Tottenham. He would complete the set at the back, and although on paper its a good backline, its yet largely untested.

#2 Midfielders

Saul and Koke could be the heart of this midfield

Having let go of the lynchpin of their midfield, Rodri, for a handsome fee, Atletico went to their neighbours and brought in Marcos Llorente. He's more or less a reasonable replacement, except perhaps lacking in his passing. Nonetheless, he will start most games and share responsibilities with Thomas who rose to prominence towards the end of last season for Atletico.

Saul Niguez seems his most likely partner in midfield, although, it would mean that Koke would play on the left wing and freeing up the right wing position for Joao Felix.

Simeone seems loath to leave either Saul or Koke out of his starting XI, probably a safe call, as they're among the players who embody his spirit on the pitch. So much so, that he's tried out a Saul-Koke midfield pairing, which works well enough but lacks a bit of balance, especially in big games. Both are fair tacklers but Llorente would be a better fit in terms of reading danger and defensive positioning.

Hector Herrera is another option in the middle, having brought all his experience and guile over from Porto, Simeone may rely on him to fill gaps as he previously did with Gabi.

If Saul and Koke do indeed start in central positions, Thomas Lemar becomes the obvious starter on the left flank. Although the right flank will most likely be Joao Felix's starting position, Simeone could also play him up top along with a partner, which could see the versatile Koke or Vitolo play on the right.

#1 Forwards

Costa scored four goals in a 7-3 beating of Real Madrid in pre-season

When you lose your top scorer for the last five seasons, how do you replace the goals he scored? Atletico have put their faith in a known, yet combustible entity, Diego Costa.

The Spanish forward has proved effective for Atletico Madrid before, and if he remains fit, is capable of delivering the goals in this system as well. His hamstrings will be a huge concern for the team though.

Morata seems the most likely strike partner for Costa at the moment. It may have been Correa, but he's consistently been linked with a move to AC Milan this summer and will likely find himself playing for the Italian club soon. A possible signing of James Rodriguez or Christian Eriksen, with whom Atleti were briefly linked could also play this role.

Simeone could ask Joao Felix to play this role as well. The youngster played a very similar role at Benfica and thrived in it.

The reality of it is that Simeone has an incredibly versatile team at the moment, and he thrives with versatile players. We know that Saul, Koke, Gimenez, and Joao Felix, perhaps even Diego Costa will be central to this team, but their positioning will vary with what Simeone needs the team to do. With El Cholo, the team always comes before the individual, even if you cost €126 million.