Rebels without a cause: has title win taken away Atlético Madrid’s hunger?

Diego Simeone had pretty much seen it all but he had never seen this and he didn’t much like it either. It was 8.15 on a Tuesday night down by the side of the M45 motorway, the last move before half-time in the sixth game of Atlético Madrid’s title defence, and he stood and watched as Stefan Mitrovic’s header thudded off a post, off Jan Oblak’s hand and into the net. They were behind again – and to Getafe of all teams, the league champions losing at the worst side in the division. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. This was bad: it was also, Simeone later admitted, what they needed. It was a shock, that’s for sure.

The last time Getafe’s fans had been here, they had whistled their players off. Now, as they headed for…