Atletico Madrid - Temporary brilliance or here for the long haul ?

- Nipun Taneja
From a mid table club to challenging for the La Liga and the UEFA Champions Legue
crowns, Atletico Madrid's story is reminiscent of a fairy tale. heir name is not the first that
comes to your mind when you thin! of the La Liga. All thoughts are laden with "eal Madrid and
#arcelona FC. #ut the so called 'o$erachie$ers' are currently gi$ing the traditional powerhouses a
run for their money.
Almost all the credit for Atletico's current success has to go to %iego &imeone. 'f &ir Ale(
Ferguson is the "olls "oyce of the football management world, then %iego &imione is nothing
short of a Lamborghini A$entedor. Fast, tactically built and reliable, &imeone has it all. From
ta!ing o$er a club in )*
th
position in La liga to ma!ing them win the Europa League in that $ery
season, he started his wor! $ery early of transforming an underachie$ing club into a potent
European powerhouse. &itting atop the La Liga standings and in the semi final of the UEFA
Champions League, the s!eptics argue that Atletico are punching abo$e their weight. #ut if they
are there, its by performance and not by luc!. %efeating #arcelona FC o$er two legs is no mean
feat. +eeping the Argentine goal machine ,read Lionel Messi- .uiet in their pre$ious / meetings is
no mean feat.
Another ma0or reason for Atletico's current success is their shrewd transfer dealings. 1layer
coming in on free transfers ,Adrian, Miranda and iago- and players coming in on loan ,2ose &osa
and hibaut Courtois- ha$e been their bac!bone. Add to this the purchases of %a$id 3illa,
2uanfran and 4abi for a combined fee of under 5)6 million. All this coupled with 7 of the most
talented young homegrown players ,%iego Costa and +o!e- you ha$e a $ery formidable loo!ing
lineup in your hands.
#ut all the accolades, all these appreciations and comparisons are based on $ery fragile financial
grounds. For a club laden with 58** million debt, for how how long will they be able to grind out
results9 :ith "eal Madrid and #arcelona FC ta!ing home the lions share of the money from the
3 rights ,5);* million each- And Atletico getting a miserly 5;7 million, Atletico will always
remain the underdogs in the financial realm. A historical tag of being &pain's selling club ,read
orres, Aguero and Falcao- with them, for how long will the club sell top talent to balance their
boo!s9 :ith their #ra<ilian ,now &panish- hit man %iego Costa being lin!ed with a mo$e to
Chelsea and &imeone himself being touted as one of the three , +lopp and 3an 4aal being the
others- for the now $acant Man United 0ob 0ust to name a few, the Atletico board in future might
ha$e too many holes to plug in their new &panish warship. =ot to mention the superbly
performing on loan players wanted bac! by their parent clubs. Adding to Atletico's financial woe
is an imminent departure from the 3icente Calderon to a new >*,*** seater stadia in 7*)/.
:ith all said and done, currently Atletico Madrid are one of the teams to beat in Europe and ha$e
%iego &imeone to than! for their current status. ' for one hope that he carries on his good wor! in
the spanish capital and !eeps ma!ing La Liga a three horse race in the years to come.