We were completely unplayable today, unlucky not to get more goals really but another three group points mean one win out of our remaining two games will guarantee our knockout spot!
Atleti 2-1 Sevilla Dzeko 2
We beat the team in second place and were actually again unlucky not to get more goals. We are now being considered real title contenders. I don't wish to curse it but at the moment we are favourites. Keep it up lads!
Atleti 4-0 Ceuta (SC) Aguero 2, Forlan 2
We have advanced to the next round in comfortable fashion. A seven-nil aggregate victory is pretty much what was expected from us. Complete domination really, it is good to see Diego scoring as his goals have dried up recently.
Barca 0-0 Atleti
Very boring really, the one thing that is drawn from the match is very saddening. One of our key players Angel Di Maria has been ruled out for up to four months. It is a real blow for the team and I just hope that it doesn't ruin our title chances.
Atleti 2-3 Valladolid Forlan, Aguero
They have shocked us, again! We really missed Angel's creativity in the side today. We needed somebody to put the balls in the right areas but it was not there. We really need to improve in midweek here as Manchester United visit.
Atleti 4-0 United (ECC) Aguero 2, Raul Garcia, Dzeko
A great and pretty unexpected result. At Old Trafford they demolished us, having chance after chance but today it was the opposite! We battered them and really could if not should have had more goals! A great all around performance for the club confirming our spot in the next round, Angel Di Maria, Who?!
Osasuna 1-2 Atleti Otamendi, Dzeko
A good three points considering we came from behind to win. We could have gotten more if Yoann hadn't got himself foolishly sent off quite late on. This forced us to not pressurize them as much which in my opinion is the reason we didn't get more goals. A decent end to a decent month.
A good three points to start off the month. They are a decent side and one that are doing very well this season so in that sense this a great result seeing as one of our key players is missing but in my eyes the key player has popped up again to grab the winner. Antonio Lopez is a left back but he filled in on the left wing brilliantly by setting up Kun and earning man of the match, Well done.
Atleti 2-1 Getafe Aguero 2
A great comeback! At 1-0 down with ten minutes to go our fans were sunk, I decided for the lads to overload the Getafe defence. Sergio earned us the win with two cracking goals in the eighty seventh and ninety first minutes to the delight of our home fans. It was a great feeling to do what has been known to happen to us in take points away from teams. So I must credit the team for that, another good three points keeps our lead at the top. If we can retain this until January we have a chance, we can then buy another left winger to fill in for Angel whilst he is out.
Olympiakos 2-2 Atleti (ECC) Forlan 2
This game didn't matter so I rested our key players. Diego showed me that he really can perform to the level of the first XI in a forward role, recently I have been playing him on the left wing in Angel's role. Jose Jurado played in that slot today and didn't really do much but didn't do anything wrong either. Just a high profile friendly match really.
Malaga 1-2 Atleti Aguero, Dzeko
I am yet to figure out whether this is good or not, it is good because: we won, we got a late winner and we have beaten a team that we have struggled against in the past but it's bad because: Simao and Yoann have both been injured, we are being targeted with hard tackling and teams are starting to close us down quicker. We need the creative spirit of Angel back ASAP, Yoann's injury was nothing and he is fine to play in our next game but Simao will be out for two to three weeks.
Bilbao 3-2 Atleti Forlan, Aguero
Aahhh, we failed to realise how good Athletic are and they punished us. They passed, shot, attacked, defended and did almost everything else better than us. This is without mentioning that Tomas Ujfalusi has picked up an injury and could be out for six weeks. We went 1-0 up and then they truly dominated, quick, slick movements tore us into shreads. We really need Angel back now, our injury crisis is so bad that we had to give Keko his professional debut. Although late on Sergio got a consolation with a tidy finish. Not a very positive end of the year really!
With seven goals in his past five games nobody can argue he is on fire. He is getting goals from limited service and I feel that if he can sustain this form until Angel is back he could really bang them in!
A consistent performer at left back, over a tough month he has been forced to defend more than usual but he has coped well and for an eighteen year old kept very disciplined in his positioning!
We are now at pretty much the midway point of the season and I am delighted with the way the team has performed so far. In every competition they have impressed me, we have got as far as possible in everything this season and we are on for a quadruple! The media are putting this down to my managerial skills; skills which have been linked to the Chelsea and Valencia jobs in the past few weeks. I am not interested in these and I am fully commited to Atletico Madrid. In other news our physio is saying that Angel will be back within the next two months so that is a positive for the team.