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No goals, despite many chances Atlético Madrid recorded their highest ever xG total without scoring in the Diego Simeone era with 2.27 as they were held to an incredibly frustrating 0-0 draw at home to newly-promoted Espanyol, with points dropped for the second time in three games.
Despite fielding what seemed to be an offensive line-up, the Colchoneros couldn?t get the ball across the line, even though Rodrigo Riquelme twice saw his effort cross the line only for an offside flag to intervene and rule out his goals.
Here, we take a look at some of the takeaways from the game.

#LaLigaHighlights https://t.co/PfIPvZ0Orm pic.twitter.com/auSnrVq7cm? Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) August 28, 2024
Diego Simeone made the wrong substitutions
Against Girona, Diego Simeone was instrumental in winning the game with his substitutions and use of the bench. Against Espanyol, he got it all wrong and took a significant amount of blame for the result as a consequence of that. El Cholo is clearly still getting to grips with this squad and working out his best team, especially with several players not fit, but this time it cost him points.
His triple change at half-time was a gamble. It was clear that Atleti?s initial game plan wasn?t quite working and the early pressure applied had begun to fade and ease off as Espanyol grew more comfortable. It made sense to introduce Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Pablo Barrios, thre...