Atletico Madrid vs Malaga: Will Half of Alvarez Trouble Atletico?

Atletico Madrid enter their first match of the new season hosting Malaga at home without Antoine Griezmann and with only "half" of Julian Alvarez.

This also marks the 16th season for coach Diego Simeone in La Liga. Not only has his tenure been long, but the challenges he faces each season are so repetitive that it would bore anyone.

The story at the Metropolitano always revolves around keeping stars who feel the space here is too cramped and that they need to move to a higher level. This summer, it's Julian Alvarez's desire to move to Barcelona, something familiar to the Argentine tactician. At the same time, he said goodbye to one of the most important players in Atletico's system, Antoine Griezmann.

He has sold many key players and also brought them back to the capital Madrid, whenever it was deemed necessary to make such decisions. The red-and-white striped team will begin a new phase where Alvarez becomes the main figure and the team's play will revolve around him.

The firmness of the 56-year-old coach forced his compatriot to bow his head, return to training with teammates with very little laughter. He lacked precision in his trademark finishing situations during training. It is likely that number 19 will not start in the home match against Malaga, but he will still be on the bench and ready to come on at the end of the game.

However, the heaviness of the 26-year-old striker does not reflect the current atmosphere of the Rojiblancos before the match, as the rest are working every second to adapt to these changes.

Atletico have had intense training sessions, focusing on tactical drills where Simeone and his coaching staff deploy various variations for the game plan. The Argentine coach continuously emphasizes the players' positioning on the field, the operation of the defensive system, and the movement of the formation when defending.

Integrating new players like the young talent from the club's academy Arnau, Lee Kang In, Grimaldo, and then Romero into the system of the coach known as El Cholo requires time, because in these training sessions, the Rojiblancos have not yet achieved the expected smoothness.

Of course, even when the play is built around Alvarez, Simeone still maintains his principle: exert maximum pressure on the opponent. This pressure must be created as soon as the players see an opportunity to regain ball control.

Simeone always focuses on refining every tactical movement from the first match of the season. That is the time when he has enough time to outline and build the squad as he wishes. He also always conveys to the players the importance of team spirit, cohesive play, and mutual support among members.

Everyone knows that the Rojiblancos often deploy high pressing, and the Argentine coach particularly emphasizes defensive movements as well as the coordination and positional exchanges among the forwards. This is one of the biggest requirements for Simeone to improve the defensive quality, which caused them many difficulties last season, despite going quite far in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League.