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Costa & Morata are seriously lacking in punch this season

  /  autty

Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata, Atletico Madrid's No.9 and No.19, are seriously lacking in punch this season.

Los Rojiblancos' defensive reliability has them still performing as one of the elite sides in LaLiga Santander, but goals are missing, scoring just seven in their eight games.

If Diego Simeone's side are to be challenging at the top come May, they'll need their frontmen to find form soon.

Both landed in Madrid from Chelsea. Atletico paid 50 million euros to repatriate Diego Costa after Antonio Conte exiled him at Stamford Bridge, and splashed a further 55 - to become 65 - million euros on Morata to end his time in London.

But these figures haven't been reflected on the pitch. Both have one goal this season, fewer than Joao Felix, Vitolo and even Thomas Partey.

Injuries have impacted the two of them, but not enough to explain their struggles at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.

Morata suffered a knee problem that saw him miss big games against Real Sociedad and Juventus, as well as the current Spain squad.

He showed flashes of getting back to his usual self against Real Valladolid, but goals are missing.

Costa meanwhile hasn't scored at the Wanda since November 2018, nearing a year since he last celebrated in front of his own fans.

Simeone, though, is standing with his forwards.

"When Costa and Morata recover the level expected of them, we'll improve," Simeone said recently.