Atletico Madrid’s success of recent times has certainly been worth celebrating. Becoming winners of La Liga and Champions League finalists is something that nobody would have seen back in August and Atletico has deserved their plaudits and column inches galore. But that all stops here as it will all be downhill for Atletico from here.
A deadly combination of a recent history with teams of a similar nature, a mountain of debt and changes in squad personnel means that there is only one way for Atletico—and that is down.
It is not that uncommon, especially in the United Kingdom, that fans of any sport love an underdog. European football is no exception.
People saw and supported (some did—depends if you have a fondness for Jose Mourinho) the rise of Inter Milan in the late noughties until their European treble success in 2010. The same people witnessed the ascension of Borussia Dortmund with two back-to-back league titles followed by an appearance in the Champions League final last year. And the exact same thing is happening with Atletico Madrid.
And what do Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund have in common? Both teams are unable to achieve the same feat due to economic constraints, mismanagement at board level, and an overall lack of talent.
Mourinho left Inter Milan and have subsequently won one Coppa Italia trophy and that is it. They have also failed to qualify for European football back in the 2012/13 season. This season they still look a former shadow of itself, but at least they will have the Europa League next season. Inter have failed to replace the talent of Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito and Wesley Sneijder and it has shown big time. With new owners in place, they may be able to challenge for Serie A again, but it is a long shot.
Dortmund do not have the luxury of new owners and their recent success has been overshadowed by the resurgent dominance of rivals Bayern Munich the past couple of seasons. The Der Klassiker was becoming meaningful once again but with the Bundesliga becoming a monopoly, Dortmund are fading into the distance once again. It really does not help manager Jurgen Klopp that two of his best players in Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski (soon to be) are at Bayern Munich.
And then there is the unromantic side of Atletico Madrid’s financial history. Peter Staunton of goal.com put up a fantastic read on why Atletico’s success should not be celebrated (read it here).
The club has £405m in debts racked up from their own financial doping and lack of transparency in their transfer market dealings in the 1990s and 2000s and it is only now that the club has started to pay its debts back. Massive debts in Spanish football clubs are not an unfamiliar sight—just look at Valencia or Malaga—but at least they are somewhat honest about deep in trouble they are, unlike Atletico who have seemingly shrugged off responsibility.
The club may be debt free at some point in the next decade but it is hard to be sceptical after reading Staunton’s piece. It asks questions on everything from its kit sponsor “Azerbaijan” and its notorious abuse of human rights to the transfer dealings of such players like Radamel Falcao.
Even though some journalists and sports writers want to drag Atletico’s name through the mud, there are enough footballing reasons to suggest why Atletico’s ascension cannot be a form of permanence.
Diego Costa’s sale to Chelsea as well as Thibaut Courtois’s return to Chelsea after yet another season on loan at the Spanish club means Atletico have two huge holes to fill this summer. Or in other words, two huge holes that they cannot afford to fill.
The £32m sale of Diego Costa to Chelsea does genuinely look like it will go some way to paying off Atletico’s debt. Although, with that being said, one would just have to look at how Atletico have always spent a significant amount on a good South American striker. Factoring in the fact that they have not been all that transparent in their financial dealings and one can speculate on what the Atletico board will do.
A team without the likes of Costa and Courtois (apologies for stating the bleeding obvious) means that there are less goals scored and more goals conceded. Yet teams might still look Atletico’s other players that have performed really well this season; players like Miranda and Arda Turan are bound to attract attention.
The bottom line is that it is an impossibility to keep the high standards that manager Diego Simeone has set this season. It’s probably impossible to prevent them from suffering a massive drop just like Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund and furthermore they will fall third to the La Liga duopoly once again. It will be all downhill for Atletico next season, therefore they should enjoy their success while they can.
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