Club Atletico de Madrid, SAD , commonly known as Atlético Madrid,
or simply as Atlético or Atleti,
is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, that
plays in La Liga. The club play their
home games at the Wanda Metropolitano, which has a capacity of
68,000.
In terms of the number of titles, Atlético Madrid is the third
most successful club in Spanish football,
behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. Atlético have won La Liga on 10
occasions, including a league and
cup double in 1996; the Copa del Rey on 10 occasions; two
Supercopas de España and one Copa
Eva Duarte; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in
1962, were runners-up in 1963
and 1986, were Champions League runners-up in 1974, 2014 and 2016,
won the Europa League in
2010 and in 2012, won the UEFA Super Cup in 2010 and 2012, as well
as the 1974 Intercontinental Cup.
Atlético's home kit is red and white vertical striped shirts, with
blue shorts, accompanied by blue and red socks.
This combination has been used since 1911. During their history
the club has been known by a number of
nicknames, including Los Colchoneros ("The Mattress Makers"), due
to their first team stripes being the same
colours as old-fashioned mattresses. During the 1970s, they became
known as Los Indios, allegedly due to
the club signing several South American players after the
restrictions on signing foreign players were lifted.
However, there are a number of alternative theories which claim
they were named so because their stadium
is "camped" on the river bank, or because Los Indios (The Indians)
were the traditional enemy of Los Blancos
(The Whites), which is the nickname of the club's city rivals,
Real Madrid.Felipe VI, the king of Spain, has been
the honorary president of the club since 2003.
The club co-owned the Indian Super League franchise in Kolkata,
formerly named Atlético de Kolkata, which
won the competition twice, but in 2017 Atlético decided to end its
franchise partnership with the ISL club
due to broken commitments.
TOP 10 Goals Atletico Madrid LaLiga Santander 2016/2017
The club played their home games at the 54,990 seat Estadio
Vicente Calderón in southern Madrid until 2017.
Before this, the club played originally at the Ronda de Vallecas
until 1923. After the completion of the Estadio
Metropolitano de Madrid in 1923, the club moved there until the
Vicente Calderón was finished in 1966.
The club currently play in the renovated Wanda Metropolitano,
which was expanded from a 20,000 seat capacity
to 68,000 after it was used for Madrid's failed bid to host the
2016 Summer Olympics. The Vicente Calderón
will be demolished, and replaced by a waterfront park at the banks
of the Manzanares River in Madrid.
The club's training ground is the Ciudad Deportiva Atlético de
Madrid in Majadahonda, 20 km west of Madrid.
The facility maintains grass and artificial patches as well as a
gym. Both the senior and youth squads train there.
Atlético also runs a sports academy at the Ciudad Deportiva del
Nuevo Cerro del Espino in Majadahonda.
STADIUM VISIT: The Wanda Metropolitano: the New Home of
Atletico Madrid Football Club
Atlético began playing in blue and white, similar to Athletic
Betis, but soon changed to their traditional red and white
stripes by 1911. Many believe the change was done because red and
white striped tops were the cheapest stripes
to make, as the same combination was used to make bed mattresses,
and the unused cloth was easily converted
into football shirts. The kit has been made by Nike for the past
nine years, as the company wants to provide competition
against Real Madrid, who have a deal with Adidas. The current
shirt sponsor is Plus500, while Azerbaijan has a sponsor's
logo on the back of the shirt. The shirt sponsorship by Azerbaijan
has been condemned by Reporters Without Borders,
who satirized it in a campaign visual in which the shirt's
vertical stripes become prison bars with the logo "Azerbaijan,
Land of Repression".
Atlético Madrid admits its sponsorship deal with Azerbaijan has
a political dimension, saying the intention is to "promote
the image of Azerbaijan". In August 2014, the Helsinki Foundation
for Human Rights wrote to Atlético, calling on it to
end the sponsorship by and promotion of Azerbaijan because of
Azerbaijan's human rights record, calling it "one of
the most repressive countries in the world".
Previously, the club was sponsored by Columbia Pictures, who would
change the shirt sponsor's logo, and occasionally
the shirt itself, as they did with the away shirt when Spider-Man
2 was in cinemas. Because shirts would have to be
introduced and removed from shops at a very fast pace to keep up
with film releases, Nike decided to not include
a sponsor's logo on replica shirts made from 2002 to 2005.
In 1903–1939
The club was founded on 26 April 1903 as Athletic Club de Madrid
by three Basque students living in Madrid.
These founders saw the new club as a youth branch of their
childhood team, Athletic Bilbao. In 1904, they
were joined by dissident members of Real Madrid.They began playing
in blue and white, similarly to Athletic
Bilbao, but by 1911, Athletic were playing in their current
colours of red and white stripes. Many believe the
change was influenced because red and white striped tops were the
cheapest stripes to make, because the
same combination was used to make bed mattresses, and the unused
cloth was easily converted into football shirts.
This discovery of a cheaper option probably persuaded them to
change and influenced the Madrid club being
come to known as Los Colchoneros nickname. Another more plausible
account of the reason to change colours
is that both Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Madrid used to buy
Blackburn Rovers blue and white kits in England.
Once in 1911, Juanito Elorduy, former player and member of the
board of Athletic Madrid, went to England
to buy kits for both teams. When he failed to find Blackburn
Rovers kits to purchase, he instead bought
Southampton red and white ones. Athletic Madrid adopted the red
and white shirt but opted to keep
Blackburn Rovers' blue shorts, leading to them also being known as
Los Rojiblancos.
Atlético's first ground, the Ronda de Vallecas, was situated in
the eponymous working-class area on the south side
of the city. In 1919, the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana—the
company that ran the underground communication
system in Madrid—acquired some land, near the Ciudad
Universitaria. And in 1921, Athletic Madrid became independent
of parent-club Athletic Bilbao. As part of that project the
company built a sports stadium, named Estadio Metropolitano
de Madrid, and Athletic had a new a 35,800-seat home. The
Metropolitano was used until 1966, when they moved to
the new Estadio Vicente Calderón.After the move, the Metropolitano
was demolished and was replaced with university
buildings and an office block belonging to the company ENUSA.
During the 1920s, Athletic won the Campeonato del Centro three
times and were Copa del Rey runners-up in 1921;
ironically, this final saw them face parent club Athletic Bilbao,
as well as later in 1926. Based on this record, they were
invited to join the Primera División of the inaugural La Liga in
1928. During their debut La Liga season, the club were
managed by Fred Pentland, but after two seasons in the Primera
División they were relegated to Segunda División.
They briefly returned to La Liga in 1934 but were relegated again
in 1936 after Josep Samitier took over in mid-season
from Pentland. Fortunately for Los Colchoneros, the Spanish Civil
War gave the club a reprieve, as Real Oviedo was
unable to play due to the destruction of their stadium during the
bombings. Thus, both La Liga and Athletic's relegation
were postponed, the latter by winning a playoff against Osasuna,
champion of the Segunda División tournament.
In 1939–1947
By 1939, when La Liga had resumed, Athletic had merged with
Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza to become Athletic Aviación
de Madrid. Aviación Nacional had been founded in 1939 by members
of the Spanish Air Force. They had been promised
a place in the Primera División for the 1939–40 season, only to be
denied by the RFEF. As a compromise, this club merged
with Athletic, whose squad had lost eight players during the Civil
War. The team were awarded a place in the 1939–40
La Liga campaign only as a replacement for Real Oviedo. With the
legendary Ricardo Zamora as manager, the club
subsequently won their first La Liga title that season and
retained the title in 1941.
The most influential and charismatic player of these years was
the captain Germán Gómez, who was signed from Racing
de Santander in 1939. He played eight consecutive seasons for the
Rojiblancos until the 1947–48 campaign. From his central
midfield position, he formed a legendary midfield alongside Machín
and Ramón Gabilondo. In 1941, a decree issued by
Francisco Franco banned teams from using foreign names and the
club became Atlético Aviacion de Madrid. In 1947,
the club decided to drop the military association from its name
and settled on its current name of Club Atlético de Madrid.
The same year saw Atlético beat Real Madrid 5–0 at the
Metropolitano, their biggest win over their cross-town rivals to
date.
In 1947–1965
Under Helenio Herrera and with the help of Larbi Benbarek,
Atlético won La Liga again in 1950 and 1951. With the departure
of Herrera in 1953, the club began to slip behind Real Madrid and
Barcelona and for the remainder of the 1950s were left
to battle it out with Athletic Bilbao for the title of third team
in Spain.However, during the 1960s and 1970s, Atlético Madrid
seriously challenged Barcelona for the position of second team.
The 1957–58 season saw Ferdinand Daučík take charge
of Atlético, where he led them to second place in La Liga. This
resulted in Atlético qualifying for the 1958–59 season of
the European Cup since the winners, Real Madrid, were the reigning
European champions. Inspired by Brazilian centre-forward
Vavá and Enrique Collar, Atlético reached the semi-finals after
beating Drumcondra, CSKA Sofia and Schalke 04.
In the semi-finals, they met Real Madrid, who won the first leg
2–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu while Atlético won 1–0 at the
Metropolitano. The tie went to a replay and Real won 2–1 in
Zaragoza.Atlético, however, gained their revenge when, led
by former Real coach José Villalonga, they defeated Real in two
successive Copa del Rey finals in 1960 and 1961. In 1962,
they won the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Fiorentina 3–0
after a replay.This achievement was significant for the club,
as the Cup Winners' Cup was the only major European trophy that
Real Madrid never won. The following year the club reached
the 1963 final, but lost to English side Tottenham Hotspur 5–1.
Enrique Collar, who continued to be an influential player during
this era, was now joined by the likes of midfielder Miguel Jones
and midfield playmaker Adelardo.
Atlético's best years coincided with dominant Real Madrid teams.
Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated La Liga,
winning the competition 14 times. During this era, only Atlético
offered Real any serious challenge, winning La Liga titles
in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977 and finishing runners-up in 1961,
1963 and 1965. The club had further success winning the
Copa del Rey on three occasions in 1965, 1972 and 1976. In 1965,
when they finished as La Liga runners-up to Real after
an intense battle for the title, Atlético became the first team to
beat Real at the Bernabéu in eight years.
In 1965–1974
Significant players from this era included the now-veteran
Adelardo and regular goalscorers Luis Aragonés, Javier
Irureta and José Eulogio Gárate, the latter winning the Pichichi
three times in 1969, 1970 and 1971. In the 1970s,
Atlético also recruited several Argentine personnel, signing Rubén
Ayala, Panadero Díaz and Ramón "Cacho" Heredia
as well as coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo. Lorenzo believed in
discipline, caution and disrupting the opponents' game, and
although controversial, his methods proved successful—after
winning La Liga in 1973, the club reached the 1974
European Cup Final. On the way to the Final, Atlético knocked out
Galatasaray, Dinamo Bucureşti, Red Star Belgrade
and Celtic.In the away leg of the semi-final against Celtic,
Atlético had Ayala, Díaz, and substitute Quique all sent off
during a hard-fought encounter in what was reported as one of the
worst cases of cynical fouling the tournament has
seen. Because of this cynicism, they managed a 0–0 draw, which was
followed by a 2–0 victory in the return leg with
goals from Gárate and Adelardo.
The Final at Heysel Stadium, however, was a loss for Atlético.
Against a Bayern Munich team that included Franz
Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeneß and Gerd
Müller, Atlético played above themselves. Despite
missing Ayala, Díaz and Quique through suspension, they went ahead
in extra-time with only seven minutes left.
Aragonés scored with a superb, curling free-kick that looked like
the winner, but in the last minute of the game,
Bayern defender Georg Schwarzenbeck equalized with a stunning
25-yarder that left Atlético goalkeeper Miguel
Reina motionless. In a replay back at Heysel two days later,
Bayern won convincingly 4–0, with two goals each
from Hoeneß and Müller.
In 1974–1987
Shortly after the defeat in the European Cup, Atlético appointed
their veteran player Luis Aragonés as coach. Aragonés
subsequently served as coach on four separate occasions, from 1974
to 1980, from 1982 to 1987 once again 1991
until 1993 and finally from 2002 to 2003. His first success came
quickly as Bayern Munich had refused to participate
because of fixture congestion in the Intercontinental Cup and as
European Cup runners-up, Atlético were invited instead.
Their opponents were Independiente of Argentina and, after losing
the away leg 1–0, they won the return leg 2–0 with
goals from Javier Irureta and Rubén Ayala. Aragonés subsequently
led the club to further successes in the Copa del
Rey in 1976 and La Liga in 1977.
During his second spell in charge, Aragonés led the club to a
runners-up finish in La Liga and a winner's medal in the
Copa del Rey, both in 1985. He received considerable help from
Hugo Sánchez, who scored 19 league goals and won
the Pichichi. Sánchez also scored twice in the cup final as
Atlético beat Athletic Bilbao 2–1. Sánchez, however, only
remained at the club for one season before his move across the
city to Real Madrid. Despite the loss of Sánchez,
Aragonés went on to lead the club to success in the Supercopa de
España in 1985 and then guided them to the European
Cup Winners' Cup final in 1986. Atlético, however, lost their
third successive European final, this time 3–0 to Dynamo Kyiv.
In 1987–2003
Gil also closed down Atlético's youth academy in 1992, a move that
would prove significant due to 15-year-old academy
member Raúl who, as a result, went across town to later achieve
worldwide fame with rivals Real Madrid.The move came
as part of the overall Gil-initiated business restructuring of the
club; Atlético became a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, a
corporate structure benefiting from a then-recently introduced
special legal status under Spanish corporate law, allowing
individuals to purchase and trade club shares.
In the 1994–95 league campaign, Atlético only avoided relegation
via a draw on the last day of the season. This prompted
another managerial change along with a wholesale squad clearance
during the summer 1995 transfer window. Somewhat
unexpectedly, in the following 1995–96 season, newly arrived head
coach Radomir Antić, with a squad including holdovers
Toni, Roberto Solozábal, Delfí Geli, Juan Vizcaíno, José Luis
Caminero, Diego Simeone and Kiko, as well as new acquisitions
Milinko Pantić, Luboslav Penev, Santi Denia and José Francisco
Molina finally delivered the much sought-after league title
as Atlético won the La Liga/Copa del Rey double.
The next season, 1996–97, saw the club take part in the Champions
League for the first time. With expectations and ambitions
raised, the most notable summer transfer signings were striker
Juan Esnáider from Real Madrid and Radek Bejbl, who was
coming off a great showing for Czech Republic at Euro 1996.
Playing on two fronts, Atlético fell out of the league title
contention
early while, in the Champions League, they were eliminated by Ajax
in extra-time in the quarter-finals. Before the 1997–98
season, the heavy spending continued with the signings of
Christian Vieri and Juninho. All of the success, however, produced
little change in the overall Gil strategy, and although Antić
survived three consecutive seasons in charge, he was replaced
during the summer of 1998 with Arrigo Sacchi, who himself only
remained in the managerial hot seat for less than six months.
Antić then returned briefly in early 1999 only to be replaced with
Claudio Ranieri at the end of the season. The 1999–2000
season proved disastrous for Atlético.
In December 1999, Gil and his board were suspended pending an
investigation into the misuse of club funds, with government-
appointed administrator José Manuel Rubí running Atlético's
day-to-day operations. With the removal of club President Jesús
Gil
and his board, the players performed poorly and the club
floundered. Ranieri handed in his resignation with the club
sitting 17th
out of 20 in the league table and heading towards relegation.
Antić, returning for his third coaching stint, was unable to
prevent
the inevitable. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final, Atlético
were relegated.
Atlético spent two seasons in the Segunda División, narrowly
missing out on promotion in 2001 before winning the Segunda
División championship in 2002. It was again Luis Aragonés, in his
fourth and last spell as manager of Atlético, who brought
them back to the Primera División. He also coached the team during
the next season, and gave Fernando Torres his La Liga debut.
In 2006–2009
In 2006, Atlético signed Portuguese midfielders Costinha and
Maniche, as well as Argentine forward Sergio Agüero. In July 2007,
Fernando Torres left the club for Liverpool for £26.5 million,
while Luis García moved in the opposite direction at the same
time in an unrelated transfer. The club also bought Uruguay
international and former European Golden Boot/Pichichi winner
Diego Forlán for roughly €21 million from Villarreal.Other
additions included Portuguese winger Simão from Benfica and
winger José Antonio Reyes for €12 million.
In July 2007, the Atlético board reached an agreement with the
City of Madrid to sell the land where their stadium is located
and move the club to the City-owned Olympic Stadium. However, the
new stadium will change hands in 2016 and be owned
by the club. Madrid had applied to host the 2016 Olympic Games,
losing out to Rio de Janeiro.The 2007–08 season proved
to be the most successful season for the club in the past decade.
The team reached the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup,
where they were defeated by Bolton Wanderers. They also reached
the quarter-final round of the Copa del Rey, where
they were beaten by eventual champions Valencia. More
significantly, the team finished the Liga season in fourth place,
qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since the
1996–97 season.
On 3 February 2009, Javier Aguirre was dismissed from his post as
manager after a poor start to the season, going without
a win in six games. He later claimed that this was not accurate,
and that he had left by mutual termination rather than through
sacking. There was public outrage after his dismissal, many
believing he was not the cause of Atlético's problems, namely
player Diego Forlán. He backed his former manager and said that,
"Dismissing Javier was the easy way out, but he was not
the cause of our problems. The players are to blame because we
have not been playing well and we have been committing
a lot of errors." This led to the appointment of Abel Resino as
Atlético's new manager.
Atlético's success continued in the latter half of the season when
they placed fourth once again in the league table, securing
a position in the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League.
Striker Diego Forlán was crowned with the Pichichi Trophy
and also won the European Golden Shoe after scoring 32 goals for
Atlético that season. Atlético saw this domestic success
as an opportunity to reinforce their squad for the upcoming
Champions League season. They replaced veteran goalkeeper
Leo Franco with David de Gea from the youth ranks and signed
promising youngster Sergio Asenjo from Real Valladolid.
Atlético also purchased Real Betis defender and Spanish
international Juanito on a free transfer. Despite pressure from
big clubs to sell star players Agüero and Forlán, Atlético
remained committed to keeping their strong attacking base in
the hopes for a successful new season.The 2009–10 Atlético season,
however, began poorly with many defeats and goals
conceded. On 21 October, Atletico were hammered 4–0 by English
club Chelsea in the Champions League group stage.
This defeat led Atletico's management to announce that manager
Abel Resino had to leave. After failing to sign Danish
former footballer Michael Laudrup, Atlético Madrid made it
official that the new manager for the rest of the season would
be Quique Sánchez Flores.
In 2009-present
With the arrival of Quique Sánchez Flores as coach in October
2009, Atlético saw a huge change of fortunes. Though they
continued to lag somewhat in La Liga during the 2009–10 season,
finishing in the ninth position, they managed to get third
place in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage and
subsequently entered the season's Europa League in the
round of 32, going on to win the Europa League, beating English
teams Liverpool in the semi-finals and eventually Fulham
in the final held in the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg on 12 May
2010. Diego Forlán scored twice, the second being
an extra-time winner in the 116th minute, as Atlético Madrid won
2–1.
It was the first time since the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup
that Atlético had claimed a European title. They also
reached the Copa del Rey final on 19 May 2010, where they faced
Sevilla, but lost 2–0 at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
By winning the Europa League, they qualified for the 2010 UEFA
Super Cup against Internazionale, winner of the 2009–10
UEFA Champions League, which was played in Monaco on 27 August
2010. Atlético won 2–0 with goals from José Antonio
Reyes and Sergio Agüero, Atlético's first win in the Super Cup.
Atlético had a comparatively disappointing 2010–11 season,
finishing only seventh in the League and being eliminated in
the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey and the group stage of the
Europa League. This ultimately led to the departure
of manager Sánchez Flores before the conclusion of the season, who
was replaced with ex-Sevilla manager Gregorio
Manzano, and who secured the final Europa League place for
Atlético. Manzano himself was replaced with Diego Simeone
in December 2011 after a poor run of form in La Liga.
Simeone led Atlético to their second Europa League win in the
three years since its creation, as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3–0
in the final on 9 May 2012 in Bucharest with Radamel Falcao –
twice – and Diego being the scorers. Again, by winning the
Europa League, they qualified for the 2012 UEFA Super Cup against
Chelsea, winner of the previous season's Champions
League, which was played in Monaco on 31 August 2012. Atlético won
4–1, including a hat-trick by Falcao in the first half.
On 17 May 2013, Atlético beat Real Madrid 2–1 in the Copa del Rey
Final in a tense match where both teams finished with
10 men. This ended a 14-year and 25-match winless streak in the
Madrid derby. The 2012–13 season saw the club finish
with three trophies in a little over a year.
On 17 May 2014, a 1–1 draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona
secured the La Liga title for Atlético, their first since 1996,
and the first title since 2003–04 not won by Barcelona or Real
Madrid. One week later, Atlético faced city rivals Real Madrid
in their first Champions League final since 1974, and the first
played between two sides from the same city. They took a
first-half lead through Diego Godín and led until the third minute
of injury time, when Sergio Ramos scored an equaliser
from a corner; the match went to extra time, and Real ultimately
won 4–1. Atlético reached a second Champions League
final in three seasons in 2015–16, again facing Real Madrid, and
lost on penalties after a 1–1 draw.
Adelardo holds the club's official appearance record, wearing the
Atlético shirt in 551 matches from 1959 to 1976, while
Adrián Escudero has the record for most goals in La Liga with 150.
Fernando Torres is the club's current record appearance
holder, with 182. Radamel Falcao is the club's most expensive
signing at €40 million, and at €60 million also its biggest sale.
Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are clubs with contrasting
identities and different fates. While Real Madrid's Santiago
Bernabéu Stadium proudly rises on Paseo de la Castellana in the
wealthy Chamartín neighbourhood of northern Madrid,
Atlético's less glamorous Vicente Calderón Stadium stood in the
south of Madrid, in the working class barrio of Arganzuela.
Historically, Real Madrid have long been seen as the establishment
club. On the other side, Atlético Madrid were always
characterized by a sentimiento de rebeldía, a sense of rebellion,
although during the early Francisco Franco years, it was
Atlético that was the preferred team of the regime, albeit
forcibly. They were associated with the military airforce renamed
Atlético Aviación, until the regime's preferences moved towards
Real Madrid in the 1950s.
Certainly, the dictatorial state sought to make political capital
out of Real Madrid's European Cup trophies at a time when
Spain was internationally isolated; "Real Madrid are the best
embassy we ever had", said Franco's foreign minister Fernando
Maria de Castiella. Such perceptions have had an important impact
on the city's footballing identities, tapping into the
collective consciousness. In this vein, Atlético fans were
probably the originators, and are the most frequent singers,
of the song, sung to the tune of the Real Madrid anthem, "Hala
Madrid, hala Madrid, el equipo del gobierno, la vergüenza
del país", "Go Madrid, go Madrid, the government's team, the
country's shame."
Until recently, Atlético Madrid had struggled significantly in the
derby, carrying a 14-year winless streak into the 2012–13 season.
This spell ended, however, on 17 May 2013 after Atlético beat
their city rivals 2–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu in the final of the
Copa del Rey, and continued on 29 September 2013 when they won a
1–0 victory, again at the Bernabéu.Atlético has played
at the European stage regularly since its 1958–59 European Cup
debut, subsequently entering the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
(1961–62), the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1963–64), the UEFA Cup
(1971–72) and the UEFA Super Cup (2009–10). Starting
with the 1999-00 relegation Atlético did not qualify for European
competitions for seven years, but from the 2007–08 season,
it has taken part in either the Champions League or the UEFA
Europa League every year, enjoying success in both competitions.
Atlético de Madrid, Champion of La Liga 2013/2014
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