Takeaways from Atlético Madrid’s pre-season destruction of Getafe

Atlético Madrid donned their second kit for the first time with an improvised pre-season friendly against neighbours Getafe at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Pérez on Saturday night. The game was scheduled late on following the cancellation of the club’s tour of Asia, with the Azulones filling the gap in a game that ended with a 3-1 win for Atleti.

Ángel Correa got the first goal of the game from the edge of the box just after the half-hour mark, controlling a neat assist from Arthur Vermeeren before steering the ball into the net. João Félix, making a surprise start, then made it two with a breakaway which saw him counter and put beyond David Soria with ease before half-time.

In the second period, with only two changes made at the break, Correa added another with an impressive counter as shown above, before Getafe pulled one back with Christantus Uche scoring from distance just before Diego Simeone made widespread changes to his team.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the game.

João Félix is back

When the team was announced ahead of kick-off, there was some shock among Colchoneros when they saw a certain João Félix in the line-up. The Portuguese returned to training earlier this week and has been involved as usual, though many doubted whether or not Diego Simeone would incorporate him into the team selection amid doubts about his future. He did so, playing him in an offensive role, but what remains to be seen is if this was a sign that Félix could stay at the club, or was this simply an exercise in normality as the club continues to try to sell him?

Whatever the motive was, the undeniable truth is that João Félix was probably the best player on the pitch for the 45 minutes he played. In addition to a very well-taken goal, he hit the woodwork from outside the box, and looked lively despite a slow start. Atleti could well do with a player like him in that second line behind a centre-forward.

What was just as intriguing was the reaction to him from the Atleti fans in attendance. There were whistles and boos right from when he emerged during the warm-up, with chants of “this Portuguese, what a son of a ***** he is”. A pre-season friendly in Getafe is one thing, but the Colchoneros may not allow Félix to feel so comfortable should he don the Rojiblanco shirt at the Metropolitano.

What will Alexander Sørloth’s arrival mean for the system?

Here, just as has been the case through pre-season and for much of the latter part of the 2023/24 campaign, Atleti started the game with a 5-2-2-1 shape, with two players operating behind Ángel Correa as the most advanced player. In this case, it was João Félix and Arthur Vermeeren, playing ahead of Koke and Javier Serrano. The arrival of Sørloth means that he will almost certainly play alongside Antoine Griezmann, but will that be Griezmann in one of the midfield roles or in a front two? Only time will tell.

Here, Simeone had little chance to experiment. Correa was his only recognised forward available for the game, operating on his own in the frontline and producing an impressive display with a goal and an assist, connecting well with João Félix and Arthur Vermeeren. He’s certainly making the most of this delayed start for others to stake his claim.

Sørloth provides more of a target man, with more similarities to Álvaro Morata and his role last season, which could be an alternative option. Should that be the case, Correa would surely drop into the second line or operate off the Norwegian. Simeone may still want to experiment with this before the season kicks off.

Where does Arthur Vermeeren fit in?

If anything has been clear from Atlético Madrid’s pre-season, it’s that we’re going to see much more of Arthur Vermeeren this season. Having returned early for pre-season, and while Rodrigo de Paul and Pablo Barrios have been absent on international duty, he has reaped the benefit and become a fixture in the team.

Against Numancia, we saw him operate in one of the two deeper roles in midfield, but here he was in one of the more advanced positions. He looked very engaged with play, contributing an assist with a smart pass to Correa as you can see below, and almost scored were it not for a miscontrol when Marcos Llorente cut the ball back to him when in a fine position.

The Belgian’s flexibility will help him this season, and if Simeone considers him an option for both of those midfield roles, it could significantly help him to boost his number of minutes, particularly if he can contribute from the bench in both the offence and the defence.

Is another defender needed, or is that man Ilias Kostis?

Atlético Madrid finally, at long last, confirmed the arrival of Robin Le Normand as the first summer signing to bolster a defensive unit which has seen Mario Hermoso and Stefan Savić depart. Talks remain ongoing with Feyenoord over Dávid Hancko, while a return for Hermoso or a move for Aymeric Laporte have also been mooted. However, it’s worth noting again that Diego Simeone is putting his faith in Greek defender Ilias Kostis, even ahead of the likes of Reinildo, in his selections in pre-season.

Kostis looked comfortable on the ball, progressing it well and contributing in the transition, and was relatively unchallenged defensively as well. Getafe did not put much pressure on him, but he looked just as comfortable, if not more, than Reinildo did when he came on later in the game.

Should Atleti be concerned by how many key men are still missing?

This win was a comfortable one against a Getafe side who are one of the few to have had a worse summer transfer window than Atlético themselves. But the uncomfortable fact is that Diego Simeone still had many players missing due to transfer business, or lack of it, and the impact of international duties mean that several players are still not in the action. Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sørloth will train with the team for the first time next week, while Rodrigo de Paul, Nahuel Molina and Josema Giménez should return from an extended summer break.

Photo by Mateo Villalba/Getty Images

There are now only two weeks until Atlético kick off the season against Villarreal on August 19th, and the Colchoneros will only play two further fixtures Hong Kong side Kitchee SC and Juventus. Those who are still missing will not join the team and be available for selection until that game against Juventus on August 11th. It leaves Simeone with very little time to prepare themselves for the season to start in earnest.