La liga is one of the toughest League of the world. It has traditionally been dominated by 2 European giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Athletico Madrid is competing high peaks quite successfully. Their heroic effort is the talk of all social media and desires analysis.
Athletico has won La Liga on 9 occasions. Their last La Liga title came in 1995-96 season. At the European stage, their best result in Champions League came in 1973-74, when they finished runners up behind Bayren Munchen.
The club was knocking on the door for quite some time. They shocked crabbed city rivals in the final of Copa del Ray by 2-1 (in extra time) at the fag end of previous year. That win ended their drought of 14 years in the city’s derby win. That was their tenth win of the cup. At European stage, the side has lifted 4 cups in last 5 years. Out of these, 2 are UEFA Europa cup of 2009-10 season and 2011-12 season. In 2010 and 2012, the team lifted UEFA Super cup also. In such a short time, the cabinet is shining with recent silver wares.
Athletico has a rich history of producing extra ordinary strickers. Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Ramadel Falcao, Christian Vieri, Fernando Toress, Maniche are some name of the respectable list. It is believed that Diego Forlan and Falcao played their best club soccer in Athletico’s jersey. All the above strickers have left the club and club has earned lot of profit by their sale. Manchester United’s David de Gea is a product of Athletico’s youth wing. His transfer also made the club richer to a undisclosed amount.
But the ultimate man behind the recent success of the club is Diego Simeone. His arrival at the Christmas time of 2011 came as the arrival of Jesus for the fans. He transformed the side and it produced immediate results. His first major final was against his former national coach Marcelo Bielsa at Bucharest. The occasion was final of Europa Cup in 2012. Bielsa was in charge of Athletic Bilbao then. The game was emotionally charged because of Basque identity associated with Athletic Bilbao. In front of packed 53000 spectators, Simeone’s side was the eventual winner.
The team has not looked back since then. The trophies are coming quite regularly. In La Liga, they finished third in the previous season.
Initially Madrid side was stuck to 4-1-4-1 formation. From this season, coach Simeone has adopted the formation of 4-4-2 in most of the matches. He has also changed the perennial attacking mentality of the squad. The club is very strong in defense now. In La Liga, the club has conceded fewer goals than both Real Madrid and Barcelona. Their defensive record in Champions League is simply extraordinary. Up to the Semi Final stage, the ball has gone in Athletico’s net on 5 times only.
Unlike their city rivals, the club is not big spending. Club’s main star is Brazilian born Diego Costa. But club can play and win without him. This was practically shown in recent matches between them and Barcelona in Champions League.
In this year’s lineup of Champions League, they are not favourites for the cup. Coach Simeone loves to keep the team out of radar. They are on course of winning 2 most coveted trophies. The team has beaten Barcelona in two leg QF. For past 6 years, either Barcelona has become the Champion or the club that has defeated them in knockout stage has become the Champions. Omens and labour is with them. Players are bubbling with confidence. Great heroes emerge through great wars. Wait till the end of May. A new force is waiting to emerge on World Football stage.