Atleti > Real
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On Thursday night, with all going well volcano-wise, Atlético de Madrid will host Liverpool in the Europa League semi-final first leg at the Vicente Calderón.
The Madrid side and their fans both have a lot to look forward to going into this match. Mostly, getting this far in Europe shows that Atlético have recovered from a minor implosion at the start of the century and can finally begin to be considered as a possible challenger to the big two of Spanish football. Also, they got further in Europe than their bitter, cross-town rivals.
This will be their first European semi-final in eleven years. That tie came in the 1998-99 UEFA Cup, when they were beaten 5-2 on aggregate by eventual champions Parma FC.
They had also made the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup the season before where they were eliminated by another Italian side. That time, it was SS Lazio who won the tie 1-0 on aggregate.
This represented the beginning of the end of the south Madrid club's most successful period in over twenty years. Between 1991 and 1996 won four trophies (One La Liga and three Copa del Reys) under the stewardship of their eccentric and outspoken president Jésus Gil.
Jésus Gil was an earlier version of Real Madrid’s Florentino Pérez. He spent millions on signing the best players for Atleti in order to challenge for the title with Real and Barcelona. He pulled it off in the 1995-96 when Atlético pipped Valencia to the title by four points and also won the Copa del Rey.
During Gil’s sixteen-year spell as Atlético president, the Madrid side featured in six Copa del Rey finals, winning three. They won the La Liga title in 1996, their first in nineteen years. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 1997 where they lost out to AFC Ajax in extra-time.
As well as the two UEFA Cup semi-finals, this was one of the club’s most successful eras ever. However, Jésus Gil’s excessive investment meant he expected a lot in return from his managers and when it didn’t materialise, they were sacked. In sixteen years, Gil had eighteen managers, although several of them had more than one spell.
This instability damaged the continuity of the club. The year after winning the league, Atleti finished fifth and continued to slide downwards, finishing seventh, 13th and then 19th in 2000.
The 1999-2000 season was disastrous for Atleti as their president and board were suspended pending government investigations. Without Gil, the club became even more erratic and, after over sixty years in the Primera Liga, the side were relegated, despite having the second-highest goal-scorer (Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with 24 goals) in the league in their side.
The next season they didn’t return. They narrowly missed out on promotion to CD Tenerife. The next season, they won the Segunda División by eight points and slowly began to return to the level of the 90’s which had promised so much.
Since then, they have improved bit by bit and in the last two seasons they have qualified for the Champions League after a ten-year absence. This season has been one of mixed fortunes. After a poor start in the league, Abel Resino was sacked and replaced by former Valencia and Benfica boss Quique Sánchez Flores.
The side have steadily improved under Flores and, although they are currently tenth in the league and nine points off the European spots, the season can be considered a success as Flores has led them on their best European run in eleven years and also to their first Copa del Rey final in ten years, where they will face Sevilla.
Atleti fans were also looking forward to the return of a hero: Fernando Torres. Unfortunately, his operation on Monday has ended his season and he won’t make a competitive return to the stadium where he is adored.
Known as The Kid by Atlético fans, Torres debuted during the sides’ darkest days. As a 17-year-old, Torres played his first game on 27 May 2001 in the Segunda División in a game against CD Leganés. He scored in his next game, against Albacete.
Torres was made club captain at 19 years of age and went on to score 82 league goals in 214 games for Atlético before completing a €25million move to Liverpool in July 2007.
The true sign of how much Torres still means to the club is the life-size photo of him which hangs in the Vicente Calderón’s bar. This may not sound like much but there are pictures of several Atlético heroes there.
Considering all the other players who have their photos there are players who played more games and won a lot more trophies than Torres did in his relatively short six-year first-team career, it is a small indicator of the love this club have for him. His absence in this tie will be missed by Atlético fans as much as the Liverpool ones.
The Madrid side and their fans both have a lot to look forward to going into this match. Mostly, getting this far in Europe shows that Atlético have recovered from a minor implosion at the start of the century and can finally begin to be considered as a possible challenger to the big two of Spanish football. Also, they got further in Europe than their bitter, cross-town rivals.
This will be their first European semi-final in eleven years. That tie came in the 1998-99 UEFA Cup, when they were beaten 5-2 on aggregate by eventual champions Parma FC.
They had also made the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup the season before where they were eliminated by another Italian side. That time, it was SS Lazio who won the tie 1-0 on aggregate.
This represented the beginning of the end of the south Madrid club's most successful period in over twenty years. Between 1991 and 1996 won four trophies (One La Liga and three Copa del Reys) under the stewardship of their eccentric and outspoken president Jésus Gil.
Jésus Gil was an earlier version of Real Madrid’s Florentino Pérez. He spent millions on signing the best players for Atleti in order to challenge for the title with Real and Barcelona. He pulled it off in the 1995-96 when Atlético pipped Valencia to the title by four points and also won the Copa del Rey.
During Gil’s sixteen-year spell as Atlético president, the Madrid side featured in six Copa del Rey finals, winning three. They won the La Liga title in 1996, their first in nineteen years. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 1997 where they lost out to AFC Ajax in extra-time.
As well as the two UEFA Cup semi-finals, this was one of the club’s most successful eras ever. However, Jésus Gil’s excessive investment meant he expected a lot in return from his managers and when it didn’t materialise, they were sacked. In sixteen years, Gil had eighteen managers, although several of them had more than one spell.
This instability damaged the continuity of the club. The year after winning the league, Atleti finished fifth and continued to slide downwards, finishing seventh, 13th and then 19th in 2000.
The 1999-2000 season was disastrous for Atleti as their president and board were suspended pending government investigations. Without Gil, the club became even more erratic and, after over sixty years in the Primera Liga, the side were relegated, despite having the second-highest goal-scorer (Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with 24 goals) in the league in their side.
The next season they didn’t return. They narrowly missed out on promotion to CD Tenerife. The next season, they won the Segunda División by eight points and slowly began to return to the level of the 90’s which had promised so much.
Since then, they have improved bit by bit and in the last two seasons they have qualified for the Champions League after a ten-year absence. This season has been one of mixed fortunes. After a poor start in the league, Abel Resino was sacked and replaced by former Valencia and Benfica boss Quique Sánchez Flores.
The side have steadily improved under Flores and, although they are currently tenth in the league and nine points off the European spots, the season can be considered a success as Flores has led them on their best European run in eleven years and also to their first Copa del Rey final in ten years, where they will face Sevilla.
Atleti fans were also looking forward to the return of a hero: Fernando Torres. Unfortunately, his operation on Monday has ended his season and he won’t make a competitive return to the stadium where he is adored.
Known as The Kid by Atlético fans, Torres debuted during the sides’ darkest days. As a 17-year-old, Torres played his first game on 27 May 2001 in the Segunda División in a game against CD Leganés. He scored in his next game, against Albacete.
Torres was made club captain at 19 years of age and went on to score 82 league goals in 214 games for Atlético before completing a €25million move to Liverpool in July 2007.
The true sign of how much Torres still means to the club is the life-size photo of him which hangs in the Vicente Calderón’s bar. This may not sound like much but there are pictures of several Atlético heroes there.
Considering all the other players who have their photos there are players who played more games and won a lot more trophies than Torres did in his relatively short six-year first-team career, it is a small indicator of the love this club have for him. His absence in this tie will be missed by Atlético fans as much as the Liverpool ones.
About Finbarr O'Sullivan
Currently working in Brazil, Finbarr will be giving his take on Brazilian football in his regular Extratime.ie column. Finbarr peviously studied in Spain and worked in the Czech Republic and had regular column pieces on … View Full Profile