Madrid (AFP)
Hanging (0-0) on his lawn by Leganés on Sunday during the 21st day of Liga, Atlético Madrid plunges into a crisis and takes with him his coach Diego Simeone, threatened after a fourth game in a row without a win.
It heats up for the Argentinian technician who is experiencing one of the most difficult moments of his eight years on the "Colchoneros" bench. He did not manage to find the key to get rid of Leganés, last tied, although his players showed more desire than during the defeat at Eibar (2-0) last weekend .
Angel Correa did have some opportunities in the first period (20th, 23rd, 37th), but Ivan Cuellar, the Leganés goalkeeper, managed to intervene each time, before his expulsion on red card in extra time at the end of the game (90 + 2).
Cuellar thus responded to Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak, again the author of an impeccable score, with class stops (11th on the foot, 13th on the left fist).
- Emergency before the derby -
The new year hurt the Colchoneros, a week before the Madrid derby against Real: qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League (where they will face Liverpool, the defending champion, from February 18), and authors of a solid December (with 5 successes in a row between December 11 and January 9), the people of Madrid collapsed in January.
Cruelly beaten by Real Madrid on penalties in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) on January 12 (0-0, 4-1 tab), the "Rojiblancos" then continued with a defeat against Eibar in La Liga, then an elimination in the round of 16 of the King's Cup against Cultural Leonesa, third division team (2-1, ap).
And this draw against the red lantern, the fourth game without a win, exposes Simeone, already disputed by supporters, in the heat of critical fire.
Six days before the capital's derby against Real Madrid, this null result forces Simeone to find solutions quickly, so as not to sink with the ship Atlético, far from the level displayed in 2014 and 2016 where he had reached the final of the Champions League.
Thanks to this result at the Wanda-Metropolitano, Leganés is now on equal points with Espanyol Barcelona, also a draw (1-1) against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in a match marked by the racist insults denounced by Iñaki Williams.
Madrid suburban players are 19th in the goal average.
© 2020 AFP