Snip.
They have had very bad start in this season but I believe that they will recover from this mini crisis and return to top positions later. Even without two early bad matches, Atletico Madrid in my opinion nearly can not compete for La Liga title with Barcelona and Real Madrid. These bad early matches make their race for a third or fourth position more difficult but I believe they will get it at the season ending.
Diego Simeone is under increasing pressure after Atletico suffered a series of poor results at the start of the season, this time they had to share points with after being held to a 1-1 draw by promoted team Elche, this draw will have an effect on the players mentality after they also suffered a defeat at Espanyol headquarters the previous week. In that match, Atletico actually took the lead through Alexander Sorloth goal early in the match, however, the lead did not last long after Rafa Mir scored an equalizer for Elche.
The difference between Atletico, Barcelona, and Real Madrid is now clear. Although there is no guarantee that Barcelona and Real Madrid will not lose points in their next matches, judging by their mentality and strength, the direction of the La Liga title race is starting to become clear. This season the competition is not much different from previous seasons, Atletico will remain below Barcelona and Real Madrid in the standings table.