I thought Athletico Madrid would be difficult for Barcelona to win against in the league, but Barcelona surprised me with an easy win against Athletico Madrid at home. Barcelona's performance has improved lately, and it has helped them get some good results. Barcelona is now in second place in the La Liga table.
This was a costly defeat for Atletico as they dropped to fifth place. They are 1 point behind Bilbao in fourth place. Actually, it's not a big difference in points and I'm sure Atletico will be able to get back to fourth place. But what worries me is the consistency of their game which doesn't look good lately. They lost to Cadiz 0-2 and I was really surprised by the defeat. If Atletico Madrid do not correct their mistakes then Athletic Bilbao could shift their position in the top four of the standings at the end of the season because of course Athletic Bilbao will not waste this opportunity.
With the kind of force with which Athletico Bilbao is coming with, I feel they are most likely to bench Atletico Madrid in the top four position of the La Liga table because as Atletico Madrid is losing matches that's how Bilbao is winning and now that they are in the top four positions, they would want to maintain it hence they can put in more of their best in other to secure a Champions league spot next season.
The problem with Atletico Madrid is inconsistency, they will play very well to a certain point then they start losing and drawing matches anyhow if not Atletico Madrid is among the strongest clubs in La Liga just that they hardly win trophies.
I agree with you that Athletico Madrid is not consistent this season, because when Barcelona was struggling to win matches in the league, Athletico Madrid could have taken that opportunity to accumulate more points than Barcelona and take their place in the La Liga table this season, but they failed to do that. Athletico Madrid can still qualify for the UEFA Champions League if they keep winning matches in the league because Athletico Bilbao is leading them by one point.