SEASONAL PLAYER RATINGS: GRIEZMANN AND MORATA LEAD ATLéTICO’S ATTACK

When the Champions League group stages came to a close, Atlético Madrid had two forwards level as the competition’s top scorer. Yet, by the end of the season, Colchoneros were cursing their attack who couldn’t score or break teams down. Memorable wins like the 7-0 and 5-0 wins over Rayo Vallecano and Las Palmas showed the potency of Atlético’s offense, but too many away days showed what they were lacking.

Here, we take a look at each of the Atleti attackers and rate their season.

Ángel Correa

Correa is an exception to these ratings, right from the off. Where most of Atlético de Madrid’s forwards had seasons that went steadily downhill, it wasn’t necessarily a problem for the World Cup winner. He didn’t play poorly during the first half of the season; rather, he barely featured. Forty percent of his 1,521 minutes in La Liga came in April and May, and he played the full 90 minutes only five times all season. There was no surprise when he was linked with a January exit, but it didn’t materialise and his crucial goals against Athletic, Girona and Borussia Dortmund had a huge influence on how the season ended. More than that, it was his energy which revived a squad who looked dead on their feet.

Even so, Correa’s La Liga total of nine goals matches his return in two of the last three seasons, despite playing significantly fewer minutes until the final few weeks of the campaign. He was clinical in front of goal, exceeding his 7.99 xG, and that cutting edge was much needed as his teammates tired and created fewer chances. The ending was strong, but Ángelito will still feel disappointed and frustrated by how this season worked out, and rightly so. 5

Memphis Depay

The case of Memphis Depay is an unusual and difficult one to judge. He showed up for some of the season’s biggest moments, that winning goal on the night against Inter Milan and a late Copa del Rey winner against Sevilla immediately spring to mind, but it is a real struggle to think of how he has contributed to Atlético Madrid this season beyond those fleeting moments. If two of the fundamental features of a player in the Cholista philosophy is their consistency and work rate, then it’s jaw-dropping that Memphis has survived a full season in a red and white shirt. Diego Simeone perhaps best summarized his campaign when asked about Memphis’ fitness late on in the season, saying “he’s preparing for the European Championship.”

The Dutch international’s departure, having failed to trigger the necessary clauses in his contract to extend his deal, says it all about his stay at the Metropolitano. Playing in just 26% of the total minutes on offer in La Liga means that, despite those big moments, this season was still a failure for a man who could have offered so much more. 4

Antoine Griezmann

This season will, quite rightly, be one that Antoine Griezmann will never forget. It was the one in which he overtook Luis Aragonés as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, in which he once again proved that he is one of the golden talents of his generation, albeit underrated by too many, and in which he firmly established himself as a fan favourite once again. His return of 24 goals in 48 games, his best since 2017/18, of course helped, but it was his work rate and leadership during the most intense period of the season, turning out 180 minutes per week with intense pressing and covering every position in midfield, attack and even at wing-back that endeared him even to his harshest of critics.

With so much achieved, it’s unsurprising that he ran out of gas. Sadly for Colchoneros, Griezmann is no longer the indefatigable player in his prime that he once was, and his incredible work rate, far surpassing that of anyone else in the Atleti attack, has cost him in the home stretch of the campaign. His final few weeks of the season saw him vanish into thin air, a hat-trick against Getafe being his only goals in the final eight games of the season. Next year, Simeone could do well to manage the Frenchman’s minutes, because even the little prince can wear himself out. 8

Álvaro Morata

If this was a mid-season rating, Álvaro Morata would be close to scoring a perfect 10. Unfortunately for him, it isn’t. It is almost heart-breaking that the most memorable moment of his season was the one-on-one that he missed against Dortmund that many lament costing Atlético a potential place in the Champions League semi-finals. It was typical of some of the misses Morata racked up, with his 17.68 xG being the third highest in La Liga, though he only scored 15. Few players frustrate Atleti fans more than the Spain captain.

Despite that, Morata broke the 20-goal barrier for the first time in his career, and was in the best form of his career between August and January. He was also crucial to the game plan, winning 58.4% of aerial duels and 50.2% of total duels to put him number one in La Liga for such stats. If Atleti needed a combative centre forward, he was the man. It’s evident that Morata is inconsistent and at times unreliable, but to score him any lower would be to do him a disservice to what has been one of his best-ever seasons, even if it did rely upon flushes of hot and cold. 7

2024-06-15T22:03:18Z dg43tfdfdgfd