Atlético de Madrid have started the season in top form, enjoying extra motivation after beating Athletic Club de Bilbao at the always difficult San Mamés stadium. Despite having drawn two games in these first four matches, with the 0-0 draw against Espanyol being particularly painful, the red-and-whites want to continue their good run of form after the international break. With their two victories against direct rivals Girona and Athletic, Atlético de Madrid can feel proud of their league start, which is much better than many people initially think.
To praise the good dynamic of the Colchoneros team in this start of LaLiga , Diario Marca showed its readers a statistic on the effective playing time. In this list, Diego Pablo Simeone 's team is second with more than 62% of the same, only surpassed by Real Madrid , slightly superior. Putting into value the work of Simeone and his men these first four days, the comparison with other greats of LaLiga makes this statistic of the Colchoneros team even more remarkable.
An Atlético superior to its rivals
With Girona and Villarreal on Cholo 's tail, the percentage is overwhelming LaLiga's historic teams such as Athletic Club , with just over 55% , or Sevilla , at 54% . Real Sociedad and Rayo Vallecano are below half the effective time at the start of the competition, obtaining extremely low percentages for teams in their category. José Bordalás' Getafe closes a table as full of surprises as it is of revealing data, with one of the greats of the competition coming out upset by it.
And FC Barcelona is just over halfway through the season, having played just over 52% of the time in the LaLiga season. Hansi Flick 's men are the big surprise in a table that has them well below their competitors, as well as in the public eye. Given these striking percentages, Atlético de Madrid is rubbing its hands and hopes to continue maintaining this good initial dynamic for the rest of the year in LaLiga .
Record breaking team
The statistic was welcomed by the faithful colchoneros and within the club, delighted with the good work of the whole team to achieve this. The good play shown by Atlético de Madrid is the result of the work and effort made during the summer to consolidate a combative team that can fight for everything. At the expense of being able to achieve the planned objectives, the red and whites will continue working hard in each training session to reap good results.
The "Anti-football"?
Despite who it may bother, Simeone's Atlético continue to be a tough nut to crack for all their rivals year after year, given that they do not back down against anyone. Their grit and determination make them a tough team for anyone and, on top of that, they make the most of their minutes of effectiveness like few teams in the world are capable of doing. Even so, there will always be those who call the Argentine coach "the Anti-football" team, focused on his work and continuing to silence those criticisms from those antagonistic sectors.