The aftermath of Atletico Madrid's 4-3 home win over Real Madrid has not disappeared in China, and Gao Zheng's journey will continue.

After the match against Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid will face Celta Vigo on a week's rest.

However, they will face a situation where there is no manager on the field to direct this game.

Their manager, Diego Simeone, was banned by the La Liga disciplinary committee for his controversial and indecent celebration following Gao Zheng's goal.

Although Simeone later explained that he was targeting anyone, he just wanted to express what kind of team he had.

If anyone feels offended by this celebratory gesture, he is willing to apologize for it.

But now it was clearly too late for him to make such a statement.

The media has been so full of criticism that it seems that doing so will make up for some of the disadvantages that Real Madrid have suffered from the defeat.

Once public opinion is formed, it is very difficult to reverse it.

In the end, the La Liga Disciplinary Committee complied with the will of the people and announced a ban on Simeone for one league match.

Executed in the next round against Celta Vigo.

It really made Gao Zheng's original guess come true - Atletico Madrid must learn how to play without the coach's sideline command......

In the match with Vigo Celta, although Gao Zheng scored a goal, he could not prevent the team from losing 1:2 away to the opponent.

Simeone's absence from the sidelines did affect the team's performance, and the last game against Real Madrid was so fierce that three players were injured in the game. Except for Godin's comeback in this game, Koke and Saul did not even make the squad.

The defeat in this game allowed Atletico Madrid to be taken advantage of by Barcelona to open up the gap.

In the same league round, Real Madrid and Barcelona both won the match, with Real Madrid beating Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 at home and Barcelona beating Levante 5-0 at home.

Real Madrid, now with 57 points, is in first place, while Barcelona is close behind with 56 points.

Atletico Madrid is third with 53 points.

In fourth place is Valencia, who currently have 47 points.

As the defending champions, Atletico Madrid's goal this season will surely be to continue the league title.

But now it seems that it will be very difficult for them to win the league this season.

In fact, after Atletico Madrid lost the Champions League last season, there was a voice that felt sorry for them, thinking that this was Atletico Madrid's best chance, and failing to win the Champions League this season would cause the loss of excellent players and greatly hit the morale of the remaining players.

So it's hard to expect Atletico to do it again, with the 2013-2014 La Liga title and Champions League runners-up being the pinnacle of their squad.

That's why it's so sad that they lost in the Champions League final – they missed the chance to make history, and they missed it.

No one is optimistic about Atletico Madrid after this.

Even if Gao Zheng joins, it is the same.

There is evidence that although Atletico Madrid remained unbeaten against Real Madrid after Gao Zheng joined, their league ranking was not first, but third, only four points away from Real Madrid, the first place in the league.

Why?

Because Simeone's team lost four games.

In the race for the league title, the fewer games you lose, the more advantageous you have.

Atletico Madrid won La Liga last season, and they lost four games after 38 games, and now Simeone's side have lost four games just over halfway through the league.

It's very difficult to lose so much and still win the championship.

After all, they are competing for the league title against Real Madrid and Barcelona, two "Western Super League" teams.

Going back in the 2012-2013 season, Barcelona won the championship with 100 points and only lost twice.

In the 2011-2012 season, Barcelona lost just three games and scored 91 points, but they ended up in second place. The league title belongs to Jose Mourinho, who scored 121 goals and took 100 league points, Real Madrid, who lost just two games that season.

In the 2010-2011 season, Barcelona won the championship with 96 points, but also lost only two games. Real Madrid had one less draw than Barcelona, but because they lost four games and accumulated 92 points, they couldn't win the title.

In the 2009-2010 season, Barcelona won the championship by 99 points, a record of 100 points by one point. They lost just one game that season, with 31 wins, six draws and one defeat, and the performance was breathtaking.

And in these seasons, the smallest difference between third and second place in the league is...... Zero points, this is the reason why Atletico Madrid broke the pattern of "Western Super League Double" last season, the third place is Real Madrid with 87 points, and the second place Barcelona is also 87 points.

In other seasons, the difference between second and third place was nine points, and the maximum difference was thirty points – how else to say "Western Super League"? Real Madrid and Barcelona and eighteen other La Liga teams play in the same league at all.

In the 14 years of the 21st century, only two teams have broken the monopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona on the La Liga title.

One is Valencia, the "Bat Army" at the beginning of the 21st century, and this team under the leadership of Benitez has reached the Champions League final twice, won the league title twice, and also won the League Cup, creating their own glorious era.

The other is Simeone's Atletico Madrid "Sheets Army". And these two teams trying to break the monopoly are very similar, both have won the league and the UEFA Cup at their best, both have reached the Champions League final, and both have lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final......

After failing to reach the Champions League final in two consecutive seasons, Valencia inevitably began to decline.

History is so similar.

Atletico Madrid's defeat to Real Madrid in last season's Champions League final has naturally raised concerns that they will follow in Valencia's footsteps.

It's a natural idea.

Looking at the situation in the league standings now, their worries are not unreasonable.

Even if Atletico Madrid beat Almeria 3-0 at home in the next league fixture, the perception of their prospects in the league this season has not changed.

After all, they can all beat Real Madrid 4-3 at home, so what's the big deal in this 3-0 win over 16th-placed Almeria?

The point is that the race for the league title is a long process, in which one or two wins are insignificant, but one or two defeats are very fatal.

Especially when facing the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.