Atlético secure another top-4 finish after quiet uptick in form

On the morning of March 18, Atlético Madrid players and coaches woke up and — if they glanced at the league table — saw they were fifth in LALIGA, with 55 points from 29 games played. Athletic Club, fighting on two fronts in the cup and the league, were in the fourth and final UEFA Champions League place that Spain has to offer, with 56 points from the same number of games.

Two months later, and the race is over. Atlético turned a one-point deficit into an 11-point advantage after taking 18 of the next 21 points available, and Los Rojiblancos will finish in the top four once again despite not really showing a top-four level for much of the season.

Over that seven-game span, Athletic — having won the Copa del Rey in April — took only six points. After lifting #1 goalkeeper Unai Simón on the hour mark to preserve his Zamora Trophy candidacy, Los Leones shipped two late goals and lost 2-1 at Celta Vigo in one of the two late kickoffs Wednesday.

And in Wednesday's other late game, Antoine Griezmann scored a hat trick, as Atlético topped Getafe 3-0 at the Coliseum to mathematically secure Champions League football for a 12th season running. It is a streak that only five other teams in Europe have matched.

Griezmann opened the scoring on 27 minutes, with help from a pinpoint Rodrigo de Paul long ball. Griezmann killed the ball with a touch and let it roll two paces before poking it beyond David Soria to open the scoring, punishing Getafe after Los Azulones appeared the more likely team to strike first.

Griezmann’s second goal came minutes after Mason Greenwood struck the crossbar on the other end — although replays showed Jan Oblak making a stupendous save to deflect the Englishman’s screaming shot off the frame of the goal. At the other end, de Paul clipped a ball into the penalty area for Ángel Correa, who sent a fizzing low cross toward the back post. Sliding Samuel Lino deflected it ever so slightly, and Griezmann did the rest. A lengthy VAR check showed Correa was just onside, level with Getafe defender José Ángel Carmona.

Shortly after halftime, Griezmann capped the scoring with his second hat trick this season and the fourth of his Atlético career. It completed a wonderful, flowing counterattacking move that Los Colchoneros have executed far too infrequently on their travels this season. Lino again made the final pass, a reverse delivery for Griezmann — who nutmegged Soria and kissed the club badge in celebration.

“I am nothing without my teammates,” Griezmann said after the match. “I thank them for doing their best to make me feel comfortable on the pitch.”

The possibility exists for Atlético (73 points) to finish the season third if Girona (75 points) slip up away at Valencia this weekend and Diego Simeone’s men defeat Osasuna in their home finale. Atleti have never finished outside of the top three in any of Simeone’s 11 previous full seasons, and the Rojiblancos can set a new club record on Sunday with their 17th home win of the league season.

Right now, you’d back them to get it. Atlético have quietly met the club’s objective after sobering eliminations from the Copa del Rey and the Champions League this spring. It is largely thanks to tightening the screws defensively. Oblak has kept three clean sheets on the trot, conceding 0 goals from only 1.33 expected against Mallorca, Celta, and Getafe. Granted, that’s not the strongest trio of opponents, but maybe it’s a platform for next season.

“I give the value it deserves to not conceding in three games, as we have always said,” Simeone said Wednesday night. “We have to look at the numbers, and we will see that those who concede the least are always the ones at the top of the table.”

True, just three teams have conceded fewer goals in LALIGA than Atlético this season — but shipping 39 goals from 36 games is still far below what we’ve come to expect from a Simeone-coached side. Yet, even in a “down year,” in which Athletic have had its best season in four decades and Girona its best season ever, Atleti are still here. For how much longer is open to debate, but it speaks to the competitive level Simeone continues to foster that a lot of us have become bored by top-four.