Can Athletico’s midfield pair turn the numbers around?
Patrice Herrmann and Ndiogou Konaté have shared a struggling season at the heart of Athletico Madrid’s midfield, with the team’s results markedly stronger when at least one is absent.
Eight games together have brought Athletico Madrid two wins, two draws and four defeats. In those matches, they have scored 1.1 goals a game and conceded 1.2. Across the other 38 games, the club’s return is 31 wins, two draws and five defeats, with 1.8 scored and 0.7 conceded per match. The contrast is not subtle: with Herrmann and Konaté side by side, Athletico have scored less and conceded more; without one of them, the figures reverse decisively.
The season’s overall strength is plain in the 38-game sample. The shared eight, by comparison, have produced a distinctly less convincing version of Athletico. There is no need to invent a single dramatic afternoon: the pattern is the story.
Their experience is extensive; their joint return this season is the awkward part. Both are in good morale, and neither needs a verdict dressed up as a crisis. The arithmetic is already quite capable of making its point.
Athletico’s 2-2 draw at Real Madrid FC on Friday gave the latest chapter a fittingly balanced scoreline, but said nothing on its own about this pairing: the figures cover the season, not one match. Earlier this month the club’s European week brought defeat at Chelsea, while its league win over Vigo on 23 March kept it at the summit. Those stories belong to the wider Athletico picture. This one is narrower, and more uncomfortable: a team that has looked formidable for most of the season has struggled when these two central midfielders have played together.