Atletico Madrid players celebrate their win over Barcelona after the Champions League quarter-final match on April 9

Official name: Club Atletico de Madrid
Founded: 1903
Stadium: Estadio Vicente Calderon
Manager: Diego Simeone
Captain: Gabi

Achievements
2 UEFA Europa titles (2009-10 and 2011-12)
9 La Liga trophies
10 Copa del Rey trophies

Real and Atletico head to head
Matches: 154
Real: 85
Atletico: 36
Draw: 33

The men in red-and-white have been the team of the season, beating Barcelona in the Champions League, humbling arch rivals Real in La Liga and surprising critics with their attacking brand of football under former Argentine captain Diego Simeone. Atletico are currently top of the Spanish league table and have set up a semi-final clash with Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. And now, the Madrid side has picked up the Calcutta franchise in the upcoming Indian Super League. So, ‘Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re’ meets ‘Hala Madrid’, thanks to the efforts of Sourav Ganguly, Sanjiv Goenka, Harsh Neotia and Utsav Parekh.

HISTORY

The “other” club from Madrid was born in 1903 as an extension of Athletic Bilbao and played in their colours of blue and white. It was only in 1911 that the south Madrid outfit changed their uniforms to the now familiar stripes of red and white.

Having lived forever under the giant shadow of their neighbour Real Madrid and Spanish giants Barcelona, Atletico has popularly been identified as a club of the working classes and characterised by a sentimiento de rebeldia (a sense of rebellion).

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Climbing out of relegation in 2000, Atletico has scripted a fairytale comeback and carved an identity for itself in the last decade as not just giant killers but as serious contenders for the best-club-in-Europe crown. With a limited purse (Atletico’s budget for 2013-14 was euro 123 million against Real Madrid’s euro 515 million) and focus on youth development, they are now the giant killers of the Champions League and the favourites to win La Liga with five matches to go.

AMAGO ATLETICO!

Now, most importantly for us, Atletico is part of the Calcutta consortium in the soccer league ISL. What that means is that Atletico is a co-owner of the Calcutta team, which will turn out in the Spanish club’s colours. And so, Atletico Madrid you are ours!

The Madrid Rivalry: El Derbi Madrileno

Right up there along with the Milans and the Manchesters is the Madrid derby, passionate and historic. The El Derbi Madrileno rubs shoulders with the El Classico as the most keenly contested and eagerly awaited fixtures on the La Liga calendar.

Just like Calcutta, where the north and south of the city are fiercely divided by history and tradition, so is Madrid. While Real’s stadium, Santiago Bernabeau, is located in the upscale northern part of the city surrounded by banks and majestic business houses and mansions, Atletico’s home, Vicente Calderon, is located in the southern working class district along the Manzanares river.

Since their first face-off in 1905, the fault lines separating the Los Blancos (the whites) and the Los Rojiblancos (the red-and-whites) have only grown stronger with the rivalry assuming political connotations. If Real supporters taunt their rival’s lack of trophies by calling them El Pupas (the luckless wonders), Atletico loyalists often chant “el equipo del gobierno, la vergüenza del pais” (the team of the government, the shame of the country), referring to Real’s proximity to Spanish dictator Franco.

Former greats

Luis Aragones: What do you call a man who has played 372 matches for Atletico and scored 332 goals for Atletico (highest of all time), managed the club four times and won the La Liga thrice as a player and once as coach? A legend. Aragones also coached Spain for years, guiding them to a major trophy in 44 years, the EUFA European Championship in 2008.

Diego Forlan: The Uruguay striker played for four years at the Calderon and emerged as one of its most prolific goal scorers, netting 74 times in 134 appearances between 2007 and 2011. He was instrumental in guiding the club to their first Champions League in a decade in 2008. In 2009, won the European golden boot by scoring 32 goals in 33 appearances.

Fernando Torres: In 1998, a certain 14-year-old called Fernando Torres playing for the Atletico youth team guided his team to a European youth championship and was adjudged player of the tournament. Thus the El Nino (The Kid) was born! Torres went on to play for the club for six years during which he scored a whopping 82 goals and was named captain at 19.

Current stars

Diego Costa: Brazillian forward has been instrumental in lifting the Rojiblancos to the top of the La Liga this season with his powerful strikes, blistering pace and creativity. The 25-year-old is giving the Ronaldos and the Messis a run for their goals, scoring 26 times so far.

David Villa: The 56 goals to his credit make him the top scorer in the history of the Spanish national team and a force to reckon with in the current Atletico line-up. Having moved to Madrid from Barcelona in 2013, the striker is now hitting top gear.

Arda Turan: The Turkish delight has been the backbone of the Atletico midfield for two seasons now. Having moved from Galatasaray in 2011, he has quickly emerged as a pivotal cog in manager Simeone’s scheme of things thanks to his ball control, dribbling skills and consistency.

What The Facts!

The Mattress Makers: Atletico is often referred to as Los Colchoneros or the mattress makers because of the resemblance of their red-and-white shirts to old-fashioned mattresses.

Raul, the Madrid man: The Raul Gonzalez, a legend at Real Madrid, had actually begun his career with the youth team of Atletico Madrid as a teenager. However, following then president Jesus Gil’s decision to disband the youth team, the wonder kid moved up town to Real and the rest, as they say, is football history.

Fourth home: Come 2015, the Los Rojiblancos will move to a new stadium, the Olympic stadium, which had originally been planned as the venue for the 2020 Olympics but abandoned after the city lost out to Rio de Janeiro. The new stadium can accommodate 70,000 spectators, 16,000 more than their current fortress, Estadio Vicente Calderon. This will be their fourth home ground since their inception in 1903.

Text: Sushovan Sircar

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