

Atlético 4, Racing 0: Give Us Our Ticket Already
By: Al |
Let us in. It is almost done and dusted. We will be heading to the final of the Copa del Rey if we don’t manage to suck it up in the second leg away at the Sardinero. The performance today was nothing short of amazing. The first two goals were terrific, and the second two were penalties scored by Forlan but dammit they helped us set foot into the door. The best match of the season is also one that will give Atleti the chance to make some history again.
We will likely be seeing Atletico in a cup final for the first time in over ten years. Read the rest of this entry »
Tiago Is Able To Smile Again
By: Al |I ran into this article in Mundo Deportivo and I simply had to share it with everybody. A few journalists took a trip to Tiago’s hometown, where he is revered. The town bleeds Atletico since his signing and watch each one of his matches. Translated myself. Read the rest of this entry »
The Copa Semifinal and a Beating To Forget
By: Al |
Canales and the Sardine Box await.
It’s been so long since Atletico reached this far into the semifinals of the Copa Del Rey. After a shockingly bad first leg where we drew 1-1 against Celta Vigo, we played a slightly better match the second leg thanks to a solitary goal by el Uruguayo. A Champions League team (or an ex one) struggling against a second division team? Say it aint so. This is why domestic cup competitions are always weird as hell.
But we’re through into the semis at least. On the other side, Getafe and Sevilla face off and we face a Racing Santander team that holds one of the best new talents Sergio Canales. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be hearing about them in the papers. They are clearly, a step up from Recreativo and Celta Vigo so has Atleti learned its lesson on underestimating opponents? Read the rest of this entry »
Burger King 1, Atlético 0: The Downfall Begins
By: Al |
Getafe, the most annoying team in La Liga and the Real Madrid loan ward, has done it again. They actually broke a curse by defeating us, since we had never lost at their current stadium ever, but that was all thanks to Atleti’s shite and boring football. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong dammit.
I can only describe it as it being “one of those days”. One of those days where two of La Liga’s best forwards can’t score, where our defensive midfielder gets his second red card in the span of 10 days (dammit Assuncao get it together), and where our 19-year-old goalkeeper shows the most heart out of any of the seasoned professionals on the team. Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome, Eduardo Salvio
By: Al |
Hailing from Lanus, one of the biggest promises in Argentine football has finally signed a 5 year contract with Atletico. He will be wearing the number 14, once worn by legends such as Cholo Simeone and um… Sinama-Pongolle. He is only 19 years old and he even has two international caps already. Can you say, next Kun Aguero?
He is an attacking midfielder and striker, meaning he can cover on the right in the Maxi Rodriguez position, or play a second-striker position alongside Aguero or Forlan (or even Ibrahima). The versatility of this kid is very helpful. So maybe in a way, he is the “Aguero replacement” that we have been thinking about for a while. This kid is supposed to be very very good… let’s hope that he lives up to the hype.
Now… let’s sign a damn right back. Rafinha is on our radar at the moment. Read the rest of this entry »
Atlético 5, Recreativo 1: The Comeback From Hell
By: Al |
I’m still recovering. That was one of the greatest matches that I have seen this season (from any teams), and all of this in a Copa del Rey round of 16 match! In the first leg, Recreativo pounded our ass 3-0 and we were put in the position of having to score at least three goals to match the defecit. It seemed like an easy task but against a team that beat you 3-0, it’s not as easy as it sounds, even if they’re in the lowly Segunda Division. Read the rest of this entry »
Maxi Rodriguez Is Gone
By: Al |
And you can’t really blame him. It hasn’t been the best of times for Maxi in the past year and a half. When Abel Resino took over a year ago, he would substitute him at the most random of times (57th minute for example) and would hurt his confidence in doing so. This season, his spot was almost completely taken by Jose Reyes and as a regular in the Argentina national team, he needs that step up and a new chance to prove himself at a new club.
What baffles me is the fact that the transfer was free. Liverpool was supposed to have paid 1.5 million euro originally, but I guess Atletico made it free. We paid 4 million for him in the summer of 2005, so that’s a significant loss (also worth noting, if we had sold him right after or a year after the World Cup, we could have made lots more on him). But his contribution was very good so it’s not like it was a waste.
We should have kept him for the rest of the season because he’s a very versatile player and has excellent skills (I’ve raved about how good he is as a second striker). If Simao or Reyes get injured and Jurado or Valera fail to meet the expectation… we’ll see what is missing.
Tiago Is Finally Here
By: Al |
Straight out of Juventus, midfielder Tiago Cardoso Mendes has finally signed a loan deal at Atletico until the end of the season. He will be wearing the number 5.
He has played with the likes of Benfica, Chelsea, Lyon, and Juventus, and has been an occasional player with the Portuguese national team, appearing at the Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.
Atlético legend Paulo Futre gave his blessing for the signing of his fellow countryman, and Tiago admits to having talked to Simao about the club and the manager.
Let’s just hope that he doesn’t flop and that instead, gives an edge to the center midfield and provides good competition for Raul Garcia. Read the rest of this entry »
Eduardo Salvio To Sign For Atlético!
By: Al |
All the sport tabloids are reporting it, so it must be true (right..?)!
After long negotiations, Lanus and Atlético have finally come to an agreement for the signing of attacking midfielder/striker Eduardo Salvio (18) for a rumored 8 million euro (6.4 going to Lanus and the rest to the Argentine Federation).
Why the exclamation marks, you may ask? Because Salvio is a young phenomenon that half of Europe wanted, and he is now ours. The “next Aguero” in a way, taking the Argentinian league by storm and signing for Atletico.
There was a disagreement on how Lanus would be paid should Salvio sign for Atletico (Atleti wanted to make separate payments while Lanus wanted all the money at once) but after Atleti and Salvio himself pushed the transfer, it has finally come to an agreement today.
More to follow. As for now, enjoy some youtube vids of our new signing. Read the rest of this entry »
Video: Valladolid 0 – Atlético 4
By: Al |What a terrific match. Once again, the match is won without reliance on Aguero (although he did score the last goal) and instead with excellent work from Reyes, Raul Garcia and Forlan. The Recreativo match in the midweek was embarrassing (3-0 loss) but the team showed a different face on Saturday. Granted, Valladolid isn’t that good to begin with, but they usually aren’t bad enough to concede four at home to a team in a similar table position. They really didn’t play badly, they just didn’t take advantage of any of their chances on goal, while Atlético successfully converted four of their chances. The objective was met for this match: to recover some of the confidence from our most important players and to clean our image. We’re only 11 points from 4th place now. See how much better this season keeps on getting? Read the rest of this entry »




