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#2 Atletico Madrid struggles continues
Atletico Madrid have made steady gains in recent years, progressing from being a mid-table team in Spain to one of the genuine heavyweights on the European continent.
A lot of their progress has been down to the output of Diego Simeone and it cannot be denied that the 49-year-old holds a special place in the annals of Atletico Madrid.
However, there has been a level of stagnation about the team in recent years and despite constantly contesting and pushing the elite clubs, Los Colchoneros have simply not been able to get the job done.
Their only major trophies since that magical 2014 season were the Europa League in 2018 and the following UEFA Super Cup, while they have not made it to the quarterfinal of the Champions League since 2017.
This season was supposed to mark the start of a new era at the club, with several key players departing, while the club spent huge sums in the market to rebuild their squad.
Things have, however, not gone to plan for the capital club and they currently find themselves in the midst of a six-match winless run on the road.
Despite the huge outlay to sign Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix, they have struggled massively in front of goal, while they have also lost the ability to protect leads and it was not much of a surprise when the Atletico Madrid players were recently booed on their own patch by their supporters.
Their struggles on the road has left them in the untenable situation of having to defeat Lokomotiv Moscow at home on matchday 6 to secure qualification and while that might not be the most daunting task in the world, Simeone must quickly turn things around if they are to achieve their goals.
