By Parikshit Pal
It’s a belief in football that if you have the money you can build a team. That is absolutely true. The trend was started by Real Madrid and then came the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea. But the reverse which states that if you don’t have the money you cannot build a team, is absolutely wrong. In today’s scenario Atletico Madrid is the prime example of that.
When we think of the premier league we are reminded of Liverpool, Manchester united, arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester city and so on. Similarly when we think of La Liga we are reminded of Real Madrid and Barcelona. That’s the truth; from La Liga Real Madrid and Barcelona have been the only teams consistently ranking among the best. No other team has matched their level. There are numerous factors responsible for this but the most impactful is television revenue.
TELEVISION REVENUE
The difference between 2nd and 3rd in La Liga is 92mil€ (76mil£) and the difference between 1st and 20th in premier league is 21.5£. So now we know, as to why real Madrid and Barcelona are the only forces in La Liga. It’s very difficult for any other team to rise. Hence, the rise of Atletico Madrid is something special. Now let us look at reasons behind this success:
DIEGO SIMEONE
He became Atletico Madrid’s manager in December 2011 and has already won the Europa League, Uefa Cup and Copa Del Rey. Currently they are 2nd in the La Liga standing. This is after selling Falcao in 2013, who was, by far their best player in 2012-13 campaign. His high pressing game, counter attacking philosophy, passionate persona, hardworking attitude have given atletico Madrid an all new look.
Liga BBVA Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Barcelona | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 54 | 13 | 41 | 51 | |
| 2 | Atlético Madrid | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 48 | 12 | 36 | 51 | |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 21 | 37 | 50 | |
| 4 | Villarreal | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 37 | |
DIEGO COSTA
Nobody knew his name last year and this year he is the second highest goal scorer just 2 goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo. Every team needs a striker like him to win titles. He is the reason the fans don’t feel the absence of Falcao.
La Liga top scorers
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 21 |
| 2 | Diego Costa | Atletico Madrid | 19 |
| 3 | Ikechukwu Uche | Villarreal | 12 |
| Antoine Griezmann | Real Sociedad | 12 | |
| 5 | Alexis Sánchez | Barcelona | 11 |
| Javi Guerra | Real Valladolid | 11 | |
| Pedro | Barcelona | 11 | |
| 8 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 10 |
FITNESS LEVEL
When you are playing against Atletico Madrid, you don’t have a moment’s respite. They press and close down at a very fast pace and there after maintaining that for the entire game. This requires a very high fitness level, for which they work very hard.
NO FEAR
Teams play with fear sometimes when they meet Real Madrid or Barcelona but Atletico showed no mercy when encountering the two. They defeated Real Madrid and managed two draws against Barcelona.
PASSION DETERMINATION AND DESIRE
It’s often said that the strongest competitor is the person who knows he can win everything. These are the three factors that really define Atletico Madrid this season and if they continue this till the end, they can certainly surprise everyone.
In conclusion, a lot of matches still remain in the season and we hope that Atletico can maintain that level of consistency till the very end.
