Manager Diego Simeone said he was not worried after his team’s worst start in his 14 years in charge following a 1-1 draw with Alaves which stretched their winless run to three league games.
Atletico languish in the lower half of the standings after taking two points from their opening three matches, having lost 2-1 at Espanyol and drawn 1-1 at home with promoted Elche.
Asked if he was worried about Atletico’s poorest start to a campaign since 2009-10 under Abel Resino, the coach said he was only focused.
“The first thing is that the team improves, and as a result of that, the points will improve… (I will) keep working and trust my players,” he said.
“We have a team that is going to do better than what we’re doing right now. Today, once again, we could have won, but we lacked sharpness and efficiency. In every match we’ve gone ahead. It’s strange.”
Simeone’s composure contrasted with the tone of his goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
“When things don’t go your way, you’re worried. This is not what we wanted. It’s two points and a bad feeling with frustration,” the Slovenian said.
“It’s incredible what is happening to us. It’s our fault. The points aren’t there and that is on us.”
Atleti are looking to end a four-year trophy drought, having last lifted the LaLiga title in 2021. Barcelona and Real Madrid both won their opening two league games and are yet to play this weekend.
“It’s clear that the most important thing is the distance to whoever ends up top today, but if I focus on that I forget about the team, I forget about working to collect points” Simeone said.
