In the aftermath of Atletico Madrid’s first home loss in over a year in La Liga, their coach, Diego Simeone, has admitted that Los Rojiblancos are undergoing a bad period.

Atleti lost to Barcelona 3-0 on Sunday at Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday just days after beating Inter Milan in the midweek UCL tie to progress to the quarterfinal of the competition, where they will face Dortmund.

Joao Felix, Lewandowski, and Fermin Lopez scored as Barcelona took all three points, and Simeone believes Atletico have failed to get to the level they got to when they won the league in 2023 in the 2024 La Liga season.

“After winning La Liga, in subsequent years, it has been difficult for us. Competing in three tournaments is not easy. We have to improve because others also improve. We are in that process; we are going to do it, and we hope it can be seen. The team clearly knows what the primary objective is year after year. We have to talk about that internally with the club, but we do have to improve, without a doubt.” Simeone said.

Sunday’s results left Los Rojiblancos behind Athletic Club with a point and outside of the top four. The talks about improvement became imperative as it was the first time since Diego Simeone became coach of Atlético that the team would concede three goals at home against Barcelona in a La Liga match.

Meanwhile, on a brighter note, Atletico Madrid has qualified for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup thanks to their qualification for the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Atlético Madrid’s first game after the international break is an away trip to Villarreal on April 1. They will hope to get back into the top four places for financial sentiments and also get a respectable finish at the end of the season.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu