Slow starters Atlético step up a gear in the second half
Of the 54 goals Simeone's team have scored this season, 36 have come after the interval. In LaLiga, 25 of the team's 36 goals (69.4%) have been scored in the second half.
At the halfway point of Atlético's meeting with Athletic Club, the scoreboard read 0-0 with no attempts on goal registered during the first 45 minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano. Yet when José González González blew for full-time, it read 2-0. It wasn't the first time that Simeone's team only got into their stride late in the game - it is fast becoming a habit for Atleti to resolve their matches in the final 45 minutes. It's when the Rojiblancos are averaging 69.4% of their goals (25 out of 36). That ratio increased during Atlético's Champions League campaign: just one of the team's five goals were scored before the break. Only in the Copa del Rey did the figures even out with six goals goals scored either side of half-time. In total, 18 goals in the first half and 36 later in the game - double, or in other words, two out of every three goals which Atleti have scored this season has been in the second half.
Atlético have conceded just nine goals in LaLiga so far
El Cholo's team have also been conceding less. The most frequency score at the half-time break is 0-0. In LaLiga, 13 of the 24 games played so far have been goalless at the halfway point but just three (against Valencia, Leganés and Real Madrid) were still goalless on full-time. In the Champions League group stage, four games were locked at 0-0 at the break, just one goal separated Atleti from their rivals in the other two (1-0 versus Chelsea at home) and 0-1 (at home to Qarabag in MatchDay 4). In the Copa, no goals were scored before the interval in the ties against Lleida and Sevilla.
Fans know goals will come at the Wanda
At the Wanda Metropolitano, eight of the 12 home league games have been resolved in the second half after the team failed the net in the opening half: the goals, and points, would come eventually though to give Atlético results against Málaga, Sevilla, Alavés, Las Palmas, Valencia and Athletic while the team came back after going a goal down to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 in Week 14.
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