It will simply be a battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid, while Atletico Madrid will merely be a secondary competitor who can occasionally disrupt the title race between the two clubs.
Furthermore, Atletico Madrid's performance in their last three matches has been poor. They were defeated by Espanyol and held to draws against Alaves and Elche, earning just two points. This shows a significant decline in performance for a team that finished in the top three last season.
Atletico Madrid have always been a top four club and not a La Liga title contender. Diego Simeone's goal is to make the club profitable to shareholders and nothing more. The Argentine is good at raising good players and selling them for a high price.
This season might be difficult for Atletico because they are starting poorly. While title contenders like Real are getting nine points from three games, Simeone's side got just two points. Let's see how they would come back after the International break..