At the start of the season, Atletico Madrid was a side that had shot up the UEFA club rankings to lie third on the table. Diego Simeone's Atletico side had surpassed the likes of Barcelona, PSG, Juventus and Manchester City. However, after an embarrassing campaign, Los Rojiblancos are still in search of their first win in this year's Champions League.

Simeone's side is teetering on the edge of an early exit

Simeone's side currently finds themselves teetering on the edge of an early exit from this year's tournament. The 2014 and 2016 Champions League finalists are lying third in Group H, five points behind group leaders Roma and four points behind second-place Chelsea.

This means, if Atletico stands any chance of qualifying, Simeone's misfiring red and whites must beat both Roma and Chelsea in their final two games, something they have already failed to do twice this year.

There has been one recurring theme for the struggling European giants, their campaign can best be described as a tale of missed chances. Despite having an attacking line-up that includes stars such as Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres, Koke and Yannick Carrasco, Atletico's problems in front of goal have been epitomised by two consecutive draws with Champions League debutants Qarabag.

New stadium, no signings

With Atletico showing that they're woefully low on confidence in the final third, Simeone and Madrid must be hoping that January comes sooner rather than later.

After Atletico's transfer ban was upheld earlier this year, Madrid will be without their new signing, Diego Costa, until the start of 2018, instead, the former Premier League champion has had to watch his struggling teammates from the stands.

The Red and Whites are also in the midst of going through an inevitable settling in period as Atletico are adjusting to life away from Vicente Calderon.

At the start of the new season, Madrid officially moved into their new home at Wanda Metropolitano, a stylish and modern 70,000 seater stadium that looked like it was the perfect platform for Atletico to push on their chase for European honours.

However, it has been far from a fairytale start to life in their new digs. When playing at the Calderon, Atletico boasted a fearsome record and had turned their home ground into a fortress that no team wanted to enter.

Under Simeone's guidance, Atletico had only lost once in 23 European games when playing at their old home, in over 2000 minutes of playing against Europe's elite, Simeone's side had only conceded six goals.

Madrid seems to have far less of their trademark Simeone bite about them this season though. The Wanda has a much more opening and welcome feel to it. On only their first European appearance in front of their new audience, Atletico slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea. Their problems were highlighted even more this week though when facing a Qarabag side who had been blown away 6-0 at Stamford Bridge last month, Madrid spent large spells of the night chasing the Azerbaijan champions, even though they only had 10 men.

Atletico also hasn't been helped this year by a list of key players picking up minor injuries along the way. Unable to secure any new arrivals this season, Simeone has had to work his players down to their bones. Atletico have been without the likes of Koke and Yannick Carrasco sporadically this year and without their creativity, they have struggled to find alternatives, in fact, for Qarabag's arrival on Tuesday, Simeone was only able to call upon two of his first choice front six.

Deception in the ranks?

Undoubtedly the biggest challenge for Simeone this season was keeping hold of his key men, with no way to find replacements for Antonie Griezmann, Simeone and his board made it their number one priority to keep their squad together.

Sadly for the Atletico's Argentian boss, his faith might have been misplaced. With Euro 2016's top scorer appearing to still be distracted by a move away, Griezmann has been far from at his tantalising best. The French international has only managed to find the back of the net just three times this year and has not scored in his last six appearances in all competitions. With constant speculation around his future, Atletico's talisman appears to be more focused on hatching an escape plan from Madrid's second team.

Griezmann is not the only Atletico icon who appears to be frustrated with his current circumstances. Former Chelsea forward Fernando Torres has hinted that the 33-year-old is desperately trying to leave the club in January.

According to reports coming out of the Spanish capital, the relationship between Torres and Simeone has been described as "deteriorating" as Atletico's boss appears to have lost faith in his former hitman.

It seems as though the Atletico mutiny could be picking up some pace, Belgian international winger Yannick Carrasco is the latest big name star to make his displeasure public. Currently recovering from a knee injury, Carrasco announced that Madrid had blocked his request to travel home to visit his family, leaving the 24-year-old at loggerheads with both his manager and his club.

With Atletico captain Gabi making his feelings on the prospect of playing in the Europa league very clear, what's next for Madrid?
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