• LaLiga Williams electrocute stiff Atletico

No one imagined that Edward Hyde would hide in the body of Dr. Henry Jekyll until the end of Louis Stevenson's masterful tale. Much earlier, Atlético de Madrid's rivals have realised that they hide "two faces, one at home and one away", as the red-and-white goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, said in the post-match against Athletic Club.

Valencia were the first to notice at Mestalla, but the team was coming off the international break and had many absentees. Then Las Palmas, who beat the Rojiblancos at the Gran Canaria stadium. The vertigo of reaching the first place, then justified the bad tongues. The third defeat was inflicted by FC Barcelona in Montjuic, with an "ultra-motivated" Joao Felix. It is true that Simeone had never beaten Barcelona at home in La Liga.

Finally we come to Athletic Club, a team that electrocuted Atlético without giving them absolutely any chance of victory. The two-nil sounded, perhaps, short. "We're not being strong away from home. We have to try to improve that part, for the regularity of a tournament winning away is fundamental", said Diego Simeone, coach of Atlético de Madrid in the press conference after the match against the Bilbao team.

The figures are indisputable. If only the matches at the Metropolitano counted, Atlético de Madrid would be top of LaLiga as they are the only team to have achieved eight wins in eight games played, 24 points in total. The second would be Barcelona, who have 21 points (seven wins and two losses) and third would be Athletic Club with 20, but Real Madrid could pass both if they win tomorrow at home to Villarreal, as they have 19.

However, the outside version is very different. Atletico Madrid would be seventh with 10 points if only away games counted. Simeone's side have just three wins, one draw and four defeats away from the Metropolitano. "We're much better at home, it's always much easier," Oblak added.

Learning to Play Outside

Koke, Atletico's captain, called on the team to "learn" from what is happening away from home. "We're not performing like we're doing at home and it's our task to improve away from home, we're missing points that are important for the end of the season," said the academy graduate. So far, 14 points have escaped.

The team now has two games at the Metropolitano before the winter break: on Tuesday against Getafe and on Saturday against Sevilla, the match postponed due to heavy rains at the beginning of September. The Spaniards were the last to take something positive at the Cívitas with a draw on February 2.

  • Atletico Madrid
  • Athletic de Bilbao
  • Diego Simeone
  • Jan Oblak