Goals from free kicks have been a headache for Simeone during his time at Atlético Madrid . Not having a clear specialist, such as Milinko Pantic, has been a virtue that they have not been able to exploit.
Diego Ribas, Radamel Falcao and Luis Suárez have all been good free kick takers, but they haven't scored many free kicks. Either because they weren't there for long or because they weren't accurate enough. However, there is one player who stands out above all others in this regard: Antoine Griezmann.
Lethal in free kicks
If we had to specify a statistic in which Antoine Griezmann stands out, we would be debating for days to decide on one. He is one of the most complete footballers in Europe and he never stops adding to his game.
Since the 2015/16 season, Atlético de Madrid have scored ten free-kicks, quite a few if you ask. Nine of those ten have been scored by the Frenchman, while the other is Luis Suárez's in Cádiz.
Las Palmas, Sporting de Gijón, Leganés (x2), Lleida Sportiu, Sevilla (x2) and Ceta de Vigo were the previous victims until he scored again last night against Girona . His goal opened the scoring in a difficult match, proof of the importance of set pieces nowadays.
However, we have to go back to his previous spell at the club to find a goal from a direct free kick. It was on 13/04/2019 against Celta de Vigo at the Metropolitano in the same way he did against Girona. In this case it would be a high shot but towards the same side, the goalkeeper's post.
Recovering the essence of Simeone
Professor Ortega made a similar statement in an interview with Cadena COPE after the season ended. Returning to the style that made them champions and not letting themselves be influenced by the opinions of others. Pressure after losing, defensive strength, effectiveness and counterattack are some of the virtues that they want to recover at the Metropolitano.
One of them is also the dead ball. For several seasons, a free kick near the area or a corner was a sign of half a goal for Atlético Madrid. This is how they won LaLiga 2013/14 and the Copa del Rey in 2013.
Nowadays, set pieces are very important and can help unblock games that are not fluid due to the play. But this is not just about the finishers, you also have to have good takers who can put the ball where it is needed in these cases.
To do this, Koke needs to play them as before and Pablo Barrios , Rodrigo De Paul and Samu Lino need to excel in this area. The addition of Robin Le Normand to the team increases the aerial danger and if Jose María Giménez is fit, there are two good options to improve the dead ball situation.