Football Season Guide

Atletico Madrid come into the new season as the reigning Spanish champions. Last year was excellent from the capital city club, as their years of smart recruitment paid off and as Diego Simeone switched tactics to a 3-5-2 to freshen up his side. While Atletico Madrid remained defensively solid, in addition to boasting the superb Jan Oblak in goals, they became more advanced in attack and a great first half of the season from Luis Suarez saw them score the goals they needed to win the title. It is expected that Atletico Madrid will remain super stingy at the back, but the question is about attack and whether Suarez – now aged 34 – can keep producing the goods and the goals. If not, it could be tough. One weakness that became apparent towards the end of last year was the lack of depth at Atletico Madrid, as they had one of the thinnest squads in the league. That remains the case, although they’ll hope that new arrival Rodrigo de Paul can provide an extra option in midfield. With Diego Simeone in charge, Atletico Madrid will be as motivated as ever this campaign. They might, however, look to prioritise the Champions League, a competition they seemed quite happy to bow out of early last year, when the focus was fully on LaLiga.