Their old gunslinger Suárez got the champions out of jail again but something is missing in Simeone’s team
Diego Simeone had pretty much seen it all but he had never seen this and he didn’t much like it either. It was 8.15 on a Tuesday night down by the side of the M45 motorway, the last move before half-time in the sixth game of Atlético Madrid’s title defence, and he stood and watched as Stefan Mitrovic’s header thudded off a post, off Jan Oblak’s hand and into the net. They were behind again – and to Getafe of all teams, the league champions losing at the worst side in the division. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. This was bad: it was also, Simeone later admitted, what they needed. It was a shock, that’s for sure.
The last time Getafe’s fans had been here, they had whistled their players off. Now, as they headed for the tunnel 1-0 up at half-time supporters stood and applauded. Back then, the touchline reporter on Spanish TV noted how they chanted the name of their under-pressure manager. Which was true, it’s just that the word Míchel was followed by two others: go and now. That night, last Monday against Elche, Getafe had produced 25 minutes as bad as anyone could remember, emotionally shot, legs wobbling, the manager lamenting a “mental block”. Then they had gone to Rayo Vallecano and let in three. “A lot’s happening, and it’s all going against us,” he said.