Football Season Guide

Atletico Madrid have finished second for two years in a row, which is still a major achievement for this club. This summer has probably been the most turbulent in Diego Simeone’s eight years as coach, as they lost so many important players like Diego Godin, Lucas Hernandez, Rodri and Antoine Griezmann, plus veteran full-backs Juanfran and Filipe Luis. They’ve done a good job of reshaping the squad. Joao Felix, the 19-year-old potential superstar, has been brought in from Benfica as a long-term replacement for Griezmann, while they’ve almost completely rebuilt the defence with players like Kieran Trippier, Felipe, Mario Hermoso and Renan Lodi. As much as many Atletico fans are pleased with the way the club has dealt with the numerous departures, the quality of this season’s squad is probably still lower than last year’s. You just can’t lose a player Griezmann and expect to become better. The good news for Atletico is that Simeone and his coaching staff are still there. That’s always their biggest asset. In terms of weaknesses, their famously stingy defence might be slightly more porous this year as the defensive personnel has almost completely changed. But they do still have Jan Oblak to bail them out at the back.