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What a season for this Madrid team. Tied at the top of the league, level on points with Barcelona. They have the best defense in the league and have a star player scoring goals for fun. They are doing brilliantly in the Champions League as well, having just beaten Milan at the San Siro. You may think I am talking about Real Madrid but for once the limelight is on their city rivals, Atletico Madrid.
Often under the shadow of their rivals Real, Atletico this season have shown what they really are capable of. They top the La Liga table tied with Real and Barcelona, are doing extremely well in the Champions League having topped their group and having one of Europe’s hottest properties, Diego Costa firing on all cylinders leading them to glory.
They all but have qualified for next season’s Champions League thanks to their position in the league table and the fact is that the first three Spanish teams get automatic qualification into the group stage. Thanks to Atletico, this La Liga season is not a two horse race and they could pull off a surprise win in the League or better in the Champions League. The real question is can they sustain this level of competition with the fact that so many clubs will be looking to snap up their players? Can they keep their core players for a couple more seasons and try to break the Real and Barcelona domination.
The first player on whom everyone’s eyes would be is Diego Costa. The scourge of Real Madrid in the past, this summer he was heavily linked with a move to England, first with Liverpool and then with Arsenal. The second highest scorer in the league, he may have been liked but he recently signed a contract with Atletico till 2018 and unless some crazy money is splashed around he would be there in the red and white of Atletico for a few more years.
Costa has scored 21 goals in the league
Another Diego to look out for is the Brazilian playmake (Diego Ribas da Cunha) who has finally flourished after flattering to deceive for a few seasons. Highly rated since his time at Werder Bremen, he lost his way somewhat at The Old Lady, Juventus, before returning to Germany with Wolfsburg. He then was loaned to Atletico and finally signed for them again on Jan 31st, 2014. He has become a mainstay at the heart of the Atletico midfield and seems to be wanting to stay at Madrid for long, calling his time here so far as “magical”. Here’s hoping he may have finally found his form and new home here.
The attacking flair does not end there, Arda Turan has been running riot on the wings since his big money move from Turkish giants Galatasaray. Tempted by many clubs in the off season, he decided to stay at Atletico and has flourished under coach Diego Simeone. He became the most expensive Turkish player of all time when Atletico signed him from Galatasaray. They also have a Suarez doing a bit of the dirty work, Mario Suarez, a product of Atletico’s youth system who has played a pivotal role as their defensive midfielder. Adrian Lopez, a forward and Raul Garcia are another couple of Spanish players who have excelled this season.
Arda Turan
The biggest player that Atletico could lose out on is their goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian No.1 goalkeeper has been nothing short of brilliant between the posts for Atletico but we must all remember he is on loan from his parent club Chelsea. Courtois has constantly reminded Chelsea he will not be No.2 to anyone at Chelsea and with Petr Cech aging a tough decision would have to be made at the end of this season when Courtois’ loan spell ends. Would he make a permanent move and stay at Atletico? Can Atletico afford to pay a huge transfer fee to Chelsea? Or will he stay at Chelsea?.
Could he be going back to Chelsea?
Whatever does happen, a lot of credit must be given to Diego Simeone. He has transformed the club and has won three major trophies in just a couple of years at Atletico. The club may be the smaller of the two major Madrid clubs and they have had to deal with many high profile exits such as Fernando Torres and Sergio Aguero, who they replaced with the Columbian Radamel Falcao. They then lost him as well, when he moved for big money to Monaco. They even dealt with the loss of David De Gea to Manchester United by getting Courtois, albeit on loan.
The future does look bright for Atletico, with Simeone leading the charge. A lot of their current players have signed recent extensions to their contracts. Their youth academy is also providing talented players. Their run in the Champions League will also bring them a lot of financial gain, all this should certainly help Atletico at least maintain their current squad if not delve into the transfer market at the end of the season.
