After an irregular, but at times exciting first half of the season, where Galo flirted with the top places of the table, Atlético Mineiro ended up settling for a 6th position right in the beginning of the second part of Brasileirão. Tiago Larghi created a solid group, based on a competent back four + goalkeeper, but there was definitely some deficit on the attacking part. Ricardo Oliveira did well, very well for a 38-years old. But after having scored 9 goals in the first 19 rounds, his physical aptitude understandably got weaker from round to round, and there weren’t many other sources of firepower to give Ricardo some rest.
Galo had to accept that it was going to be hard to get anything better than a 6th place. In fact, after having craved a comfortable situation for a top-6 position, Atlético started a depressive phase staring mid-September and entering on November, where Galo had only one win in nine games. In the middle of this crisis of results, the board decided to change gaffers, sacking Thiago and bringing the more experienced Levir Culpi, much to the players’ insatisfaction, as they were said to be appreciate Larghi’s methods. Culpi’s start was very hard, having had three defeats in the first three games. Eventually, Mineiros were back on track having grabbed 12 out of the last 15 possible points, shooing away the competition for that important 6th place that gives access to Libertadores’ qualification round.
Despite the large number of goals conceded (second worst of the top 11 teams), it was in defence where Atlético had their most solid units throughout the season. Goalkeeper Victor was always a rock, while the back-four was the team’s standout, specially the right-back Emerson and the centre-half Iago Maidana, who were already linked with top European sides. Yimmi Chara had a very decent debut season in Brazil, while Luan had a satisfying return after the serious injury of previous season.
