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A 'cowardly Atletico Madrid' was how Diego Simeone's side were described on Spanish radio after their 1-0 defeat by AC Milan at the Wanda Metropolitano.
That will hurt the Argentine coach and he will argue they were being cautious not cowardly.
Either way trying to hold on to a 0-0 draw and then losing 1-0 means they no longer have it in their own hands to make the December 13 draw for the last 16.
Here, Sportsmail looks at five reasons why it's going wrong for the Spanish champions this season.
Sportsmail looks at why it's going wrong for Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid this season
Simeone has a squad full of attacking talent but old habits die hard and there is a tendency to try to close games down or settle for draws when the situation allows. Against Milan he took off Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann and the signal was clear: protect what we have.
There are too many games when Simone sets up his team as if they were plucky underdogs. He played something close to a back six last season at home to Chelsea.
Even when the team is full of attacking players they don't play that way. There was plenty of flair on the pitch on Wednesday night but too often there was a huge gap between an isolated Suarez and the rest of the team.
If Atletico could defend it would make more sense but that is no longer the case.
He has a squad full of attacking talent, including Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann, but old habits die hard and there is a tendency to try to close games down or settle for draws
Atletico have let in more goals in all competitions this season than games
