Atletico Madrid are having a torrid start to the season, with just one win, three draws, and two defeats in six matches so far, having opened the scoring in five of them, which makes them the European outfit that capitalise least on breaking the deadlock.
There were high expectations for Atletico Madrid this season as another team that would be in the fight for the La Liga title, but the truth is that a terrible start to the season has made things very difficult for the 'Colchoneros'.
Diego Simeone's team have recorded one defeat, three draws and one victory in five domestic league games so far, as well as suffering a last-gasp defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in their Champions League opener.
The curious fact is that the Madrid side have opened the scoring in all five of their LaLiga matches and have only managed to win one of them, which is quite remarkable considering that opening the scoring gives you a big advantage over your opponent in terms of winning the match.
The 'Colchoneros' suffered a defeat in their La Liga opener against Espanyol, who managed to come back (2-1) with goals from Miguel Rubio and Pere Milla after Julian Alvarez had opened the scoring with a penalty in the first half. Following that defeat, Atlético's poor form continued with two consecutive draws.
Elche managed to hold Simeone's side to a draw thanks to an early goal from Rafa Mir that cancelled out Sorloth's opener (1-1), while in Alaves, history repeated itself, this time with an early goal from Carlos Vicente from the penalty spot, cancelling out Giuliano Simeone's opener (1-1).
Only against Villarreal did Atletico manage to capitalise on breaking the deadlock through Pablo Barrios in the ninth minute, with Nico Gonzalez adding a second to score his first goal for the club and seal the Madrid side's only victory so far.
However, things got complicated again when it looked like Atletico were going to claim back-to-back victories in LaLiga after Gallagher opened the scoring late against Mallorca, but a late goal from Vedat Muriqui cancelled out the English midfielder's goal and Atletico once again shared the points.
In fact, this string of poor results has led them to become the European team that capitalises least on breaking the deadlock, in contrast to teams such as Liverpool, who have won all the matches in which they have opened the scoring (7), or Real Madrid (5).
Who knows if the 'Colchoneros' will manage to break the deadlock in their next league match against Rayo Vallecano, but the truth is that they need another victory if they do not want to complicate their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
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