Atletico de Madrid: On the Rise?

Hassan Chamas

In England, supporters of the Premier League’s top four teams cheer relentlessly for their team to win the domestic title at the end of the season. Whether they’re wearing the flamboyant red colours of Liverpool or Manchester United, or being the most die-hard fans of Chelsea or Arsenal, supporters never seem to think for a single second that their team cannot clinch the title.

In Italy, the concept is not so different: Even though Internazionale are the country’s top football club over the last couple of seasons (whether it is down to luck, impartial refereeing, or simply taking advantage of Calciopoly back in 2006 is debatable), fans of Juventus and “eternal runners-up” AS Roma will always think that their team holds a chance of clinching the Scudetto until it is mathematically over.

This leads us to the last country of Europe’s “Big Three”: Spain. Don’t get me wrong here and think that La Liga is a dull competition. On the contrary, it may be the most exciting of them all. Where else can you see a modest club like Getafe take on the titans that are Real Madrid, and actually win at the Santiago Bernabeu? While in England, with all due respect to Fulham, when was the last time that they defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford? Practically never. This quirk makes La Liga one of the most entertaining leagues in Europe, but it isn’t by any distance the most competitive, as small clubs find with every season that they have smaller chances of success do to the financial dominance of Spain’s big two: Barcelona and Real Madrid.

One of the struggling sides in La Liga in recent seasons has been Real Madrid’s smaller neighbours, Atletico de Madrid. While Real-barring a catastrophe-are almost certain to become back to back champions in the coming weeks, Atletico are fighting hard over a 4th place finish in the table, notably against an impressive in-form Racing Santander.

Atletico have proven to be a tricky side to beat this season, with impressive wins over Barcelona, Sevilla, and Zaragoza to cite just a few. But do they really have it in them to go all the way in the next couple of years?

Start of a new era

Atletico Madrid’s history has always been branded by eras, that is, different periods at the club. And just like the “Jesus Gil era” (Jesus Gil is a former Atletico president, notoriously famous for going through coaches the way normal people go through socks), 2004-07 was said to be the time of Fernando Torres, a player that was destined to be the talismanic man of Los Colchoneros.

Torres was perceived as the leader that would guide Atletico back to their glory days of 1996, where the club managed in impressive style to win the domestic double. Sadly for them, Torres-due to his strong love for Atletico, and perhaps realising the inability of his side to amass any trophies- transferred to English outfit Liverpool at the special request of Spanish coach Rafael Benitez, in a £20 million+ Luis Garcia deal. Since then, Torres, nicknamed “el Niño” has become one of the Premier League’s best players this season, and has instantly won over the hearts of the fans at Anfield.

Back home, supporters who were cursing his name, never realised that it was inevitable, but most importantly, a blessing in disguise to let their greatest asset leave. The sale of Torres brought in enough cash to fund the purchase of several class players, most notably forwards, such as Diego Forlan from Villareal, Simao Sabrosa from Benfica, and troubled ex-Arsenal and Real Madrid superstar Jose Antonio Reyes. These players, in addition to Argentinean duo Maxi Rodriguez and young wonderkid Sergio Aguero, are guiding Los Rojiblancos into a Champions League-qualifying 4th place finish, something that last year’s team couldn’t manage to do under the guidance of Torres, eventually finishing in a disappointing 7th position.

Steps towards the future

While continuing on the same path, Atletico cannot but improve. They have been constantly climbing up the ladder over the past three years, and this year hopes are high at the Vicente Calderon to finally make it to the Champions League next season.

Atletico Madrid’s biggest obstacle towards success in the near future appears to be Atletico themselves. They have mostly reinforced the front line from the money obtained by the sale of Torres, ignoring the other positions. They have bought Tiago Motta from Barcelona, but the has has a reputation for being very injury-prone, and is by no means the ideal midfielder that can be the center of the unit, whether occupying a holding defensive position or as an attacking number 10. Only inconsistency and/or an unbalanced squad can be the reason behind the downfall of Atletico back into the mid-table again.

Also, Atletico should place increasing importance on Atletico Madrid B, their youth side, as they have learned their lesson by developing a good youth academy, one that was disbanded briefly 14 years ago by the late Jesus Gil, which led to Real Madrid snatching Atletico’s most valuable young asset at that time, Raul Gonzalez, for free. Now, with their B side producing some talented players, such as Spain under-17 captain Ignacio Camacho, Atletico have something to look for in the not too distant future.

Whether Atletico can do enough to become genuine challengers for the La Liga title in the future only time will tell. If they do though, it will surely be for the benefit of Spanish football.