Atlético Madrid

170px
Full name	Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Los Colchoneros (The Mattress Makers) Los Rojiblancos (The Red and Whites) Los Indios (The Indians)
Founded	April 26, 1903 (1903-04-26) (109 years ago) (as Athletic Club de Madrid) October 4, 1939 (1939-10-04) (72 years ago) (as Club Atlético de Madrid)
Ground	Estadio Vicente Calderón, Arganzuela, Madrid (Capacity: 54,960[1])
President	Enrique Cerezo
Manager	Diego Simeone
League	La Liga
2011–12	La Liga, 5th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., commonly known as Atlético de Madrid, is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in La Liga.^[2] Atlético have won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, were European Cup runners-up in 1974,^[3] won the Intercontinental Cup in 1975, won the Europa League in 2010 ^[4] and in 2012, and won the UEFA Super Cup in 2010.

Los Colchoneros play their home games at the Vicente Calderón,^[5] which currently holds up to 54,960 spectators. In 2015, Atletico are due to move to their new home of Estadio La Peineta, which will have a capacity of 70,000.

Atleti's home kit is red and white vertical striped shirts, with blue shorts, accompanied by blue and red socks, this combination has been used since 1911. Nike are the kit manufacturers, the only sponsor is Kyocera.

During their history, the club have been known by a number of nicknames, including Los Colchoneros ("The Mattress Makers" in English), due to their first team stripes being the same colors as old-fashioned mattresses. During the 1970s, they became known as Los Indios, allegedly due to the club signing several South American players after the restrictions on signing foreign players was lifted. However, there are a number of counter theories which claim they were so named because their stadium is "camped" on the river bank, or because Los Indios (The Indians) were the traditional enemy of Los Blancos (The Whites), which is the nickname of the club's city rivals, Real Madrid.^[6]

History[link]

Foundation (1903–1939)[link]

The club was originally founded on 26 April 1903^[7] as Athletic Club de Madrid by three Basque students living in Madrid. These founders saw the new club as a youth branch of their childhood team, Athletic Bilbao.^[7] In 1904, they were joined by dissident members of Real Madrid.^[8] They began playing in blue and white, similarly to Athletic Bilbao, but by 1911, Athletic were playing in their current colours of red and white stripes. Many believe the change was influenced because red and white striped tops were the cheapest stripes to make, because the same combination was used to make bed mattresses, and the unused cloth was easily converted into football shirts. This discovery of a cheaper option probably persuaded them to change and influenced the Madrid club being come to known as Los Colchoneros nickname. Other more plausible account of the reason to change colours is that both Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Madrid used to buy Blackburn Rovers blue and white kits in England.^[9] Once in 1911, Juanito Elorduy, former player and member of the board of Athletic Madrid, went to England to buy kits for both teams. He did not find Blackburn Rovers kits and bought Southampton red and white ones instead. Athletic Madrid adopted the red and white shirt but opted to keep Blackburn Rovers' blue shorts, leading to them also being known as Los Rojiblancos.

Atletico's first ground, the Ronda de Vallecas, was situated in the eponymous working class area on the south side of the city. In 1919, the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana—the company that ran the underground communication system in Madrid—acquired some land, near the Ciudad Universitaria. And in 1921, Athletic Madrid became independent of parent-club Athletic Bilbao. As part of that project the company built a sports stadium, named Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid and Athletic had a new a 35,800 seat home.^[10] The Metropolitano was used until 1966, when they moved to the new Estadio Vicente Calderón.^[11] After the move, the Metropolitano was demolished and was replaced with university buildings and an office block belong to the company ENUSA.

1921 Copa del Rey finalists

During the 1920s, Athletic won the Campeonato del Centro three times and they were Copa del Rey runners-up in 1921, ironically this final saw them face parent club Athletic Bilbao, and 1926. Based on this record, they were invited to join the Primera División of the inaugural La Liga in 1928. During their debut La Liga season, the club were managed by Fred Pentland, but after two seasons in the Primera División they were relegated to Segunda División. They briefly returned to La Liga in 1934. But were relegated again in 1936, after Josep Samitier took over in mid-season from Pentland. Fortunately for Los Colchoneros the Spanish Civil War gave the club a reprieve, because Real Oviedo was unable to play due to the destruction of their stadium during the bombings. Thus both La Liga and Athletic's relegation were postponed, the latter by winning a playoff against CA Osasuna, champion of the Segunda División tournament.

Athletic Aviación de Madrid (1939–1947)[link]

By 1939, when La Liga had resumed, Athletic had merged with Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza to become Athletic Aviación de Madrid. Aviación Nacional had been founded in 1939 by members of the Spanish Air Force. They had been promised a place in the Primera División for the 1939–40 season, only to be denied by the RFEF. As a compromise this club merged with Athletic, whose squad had lost eight players in the Spanish Civil War. The team were awarded a place in the 1939–40 La Liga campaign only as a replacement for Real Oviedo. With the legendary Ricardo Zamora as manager, the club subsequently won their first La Liga title that season and then retained the title in 1941. The most influential and charismatic player of these years was the captain Germán Gómez, who was signed from Racing de Santander in 1939. He played eight consecutive seasons for 'the rojiblancos', until the 1947–48 campaign. From his centre-midfield position he formed a legendary midfield alongside Machín and Ramón Gabilondo. In 1941, a decree issued by Franco^[12] banned teams from using foreign names and the club became Atlético Aviacion de Madrid. In 1947, the club decided to drop the military association from its name and settled on its current name of Club Atlético de Madrid. The same year saw Atlético beat Real Madrid 5–0 at the Metropolitano; their biggest win over their cross-town rivals to date.^[13]

The Golden Age (1947–1965)[link]

Under Helenio Herrera and with the help of Larbi Benbarek, Atlético won La Liga again in 1950 and 1951. With the departure of Herrera in 1953, the club began to slip behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona and for the remainder of the 1950s they were left to battle it out with Athletic Bilbao for the title of third team in Spain.

However during the 1960s and 1970s, Atlético Madrid seriously challenged Barcelona for the position of second team. The 1957–58 season saw Fernando Daucik take charge of Atlético and he led them to second place in La Liga. This resulted in Atlético qualifying for the 1958–59 season of the European Cup since the winners, Real Madrid, were the reigning European champions. Inspired by Brazilian centre-forward Vavá and Enrique Collar, Atlético reached the semi-finals after beating Drumcondra, CSKA Sofia and Schalke.^[14] In the semi-finals, they met Real Madrid. Real won the first leg 2–1 at the Bernabéu while Atlético won 1–0 at the Metropolitano.^[15] The tie went to a replay and Real won 2–1 in Zaragoza.^[16]

Atlético, however, gained their revenge when, led by former Real coach José Villalonga, they defeated Real in two successive Copa del Rey finals in 1960 and 1961. In 1962 they won the European Cup Winners' Cup beating Fiorentina 3–0 after a replay.^[17] This achievement is signifficant as the Cup winners' Cup was the only major European trophy that Real Madrid never won. The following year the club reached the 1963 final, but was thrashed by English side Tottenham Hotspur 5–1.^[18] Enrique Collar,^[19] who continued to be an influential player during this era, was now joined by the likes of midfielder Miguel Jones and midfield playmaker Adelardo.^[20]

Unfortunately for Atlético fans, their best years coincided with dominant Real Madrid teams. Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated La Liga with the club winning the competition 14 times. During this era only Atlético offered Real any serious challenge, winning La Liga titles in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. They were also runners-up in 1961, 1963 and 1965. The club had further success winning the Copa del Rey on three occasions in 1965, 1972 and 1976. In 1965, when they finished as La Liga runners-up to Real after an intense battle for the title, Atlético became the first team to beat Real at the Bernabéu in eight years.

European Cup Finalists (1965–1974)[link]

Significant players from this era included the now veteran Adelardo and regular goalscorers Luis Aragonés, Javier Irureta and José Eulogio Gárate. The latter won the Pichichi three times in 1969, 1970 and 1971. In the 1970s Atlético also recruited several Argentine employees, signing Rubén Ayala, Panadero Díaz and Ramón "Cacho" Heredia as well as coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo. Lorenzo believed in discipline, caution and disrupting the opponents’ game. Although controversial, his methods proved successful and after winning La Liga in 1973, the club reached the European Cup final in 1974.^{[citation needed]} On the way to the final Atlético knocked out Galatasaray, Dinamo Bucureşti, Red Star Belgrade and Celtic.^[21] In the away leg of the semi-final against Celtic, Atlético had Ayala, Díaz, and substitute Quique all sent off during a hard fought encounter in what was reported as one of the worst cases of cynical fouling the tournament has seen. Because of this cynicism they managed a 0–0 draw, which was followed by a 2–0 victory in the return leg with goals from Gárate and Adelardo.^[22] However the final at the Heysel Stadium proved to be a heart-breaker for Atlético. Against a Bayern Munich team that included Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeneß, and Gerd Müller, Atlético played above themselves. Despite missing Ayala, Díaz, and Quique through suspension, they went ahead in extra-time with only seven minutes left. Aragonés scored with a superb, curling free-kick that looked like the winner. However, in the last minute of the game Bayern defender Georg Schwarzenbeck equalized with a stunning 25 yarder that left the Atlético goalkeeper Miguel Reina motionless.^[23] In a replay, back in the Heysel, two days later Bayern won convincingly 4–0, with two goals each from Hoeneß and Müller.^[23]

The Aragonés years (1974–1987)[link]

Shortly after the defeat in the European Cup, Atlético appointed their veteran player Luis Aragonés as coach. Aragonés subsequently served as coach on four separate occasions, from 1974 to 1980, from 1982 to 1987 once again 1991 till 1993 and finally from 2002 to 2003. His first success came quickly as Bayern Munich had refused to participate because of fixture congestion^[24] in the Intercontinental Cup and as runners-up, Atlético were invited instead. Their opponents were Independiente^[24] of Argentina and, after losing the away leg 1–0, they won the return leg 2–0 with goals from Javier Irureta and Rubén Ayala.^[25] Aragonés subsequently led the club to further successes in the Copa del Rey in 1976 and La Liga in 1977.

During his second spell in charge, Aragonés led the club to a runners-up finish in La Liga and a winner's medal in the Copa del Rey, both in 1985. He received considerable help from Hugo Sánchez who scored 19 league goals and won the Pichichi. Sánchez also scored twice in the cup final as Atlético beat Athletic Bilbao 2–1. However Sánchez only remained at the club for one season before he move across the city to Real Madrid. Despite the loss of Sánchez, Aragonés went on to lead the club to success in the Supercopa de España in 1985 and then guided them to the European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1986. However Atlético lost their third successive European final, this time 3–0 to Dynamo Kyiv.^[26][27]

The Jesús Gil years (1987–2003)[link]

In 1987, controversial politician and businessman Jesús Gil became club president.

Atlético had not won La Liga for ten years and were desperate for league success. Right away, Gil spent heavily, bringing in a number of expensive signings, most notably Portuguese winger Paulo Futre, fresh from winning the European Cup with F.C. Porto.^[28] All the spending, however, only brought in two consecutive Copa del Rey trophies in 1991 and 1992 as the league title proved elusive. The closest Atlético came to La Liga trophy was the 1990–91 season when they finished runners-up by 10 points to Johan Cruyff's FC Barcelona. In the process, Gil developed a ruthless reputation due to the manner in which he ran the club. In pursuit of league success, he hired and fired a number of head coaches, including César Luis Menotti, Ron Atkinson, Javier Clemente, Tomislav Ivić, Francisco Maturana, Alfio Basile as well as club legend Luis Aragonés. Gil also closed down Atlético's youth academy in 1992,^[29] a move that would prove significant due to 15-year-old academy member Raúl who as a result went across town to achieve worldwide fame at rivals Real Madrid.^[30]

In the 1994–95 league campaign, the club barely avoided relegation with a draw on the last matchday of the season. The narrow escape prompted yet another head coaching change along with a wholesale squad clearance during the summer 1995 transfer window that saw many players being shown the door. Somewhat unexpectedly, in the following 1995–96 season, newly arrived head coach Radomir Antić, with a squad including holdovers Toni, Roberto Solozábal, Delfí Geli, Juan Vizcaíno, José Luis Caminero, Diego Simeone, and Kiko, as well as new acquisitions Milinko Pantić, Luboslav Penev, Santi Denia, and José Francisco Molina finally delivered the much sought after league title as Atlético won the La Liga/Copa del Rey double.^[7]

The next season, 1996–97, saw the club take part in the Champions League for the first time. With expectations and ambitions raised, most notable summer transfer singings were striker Juan Esnáider from Real Madrid and Radek Bejbl who was coming off a great showing at Euro 1996. Playing on two fronts, Atlético fell out of the league title contention early while in the Champions League they got eliminated by AFC Ajax in a hard-fought quarter-final tie that went into extra time. For the 1997–98 season, the heavy spending continued with top signings of Christian Vieri and Juninho arriving in the summer of 1997. All the success, however, produced little change in the overall Gil strategy, and although Antić survived three consecutive seasons in charge, he was replaced during summer 1998 by Arrigo Sacchi, who himself only remained in the managerial hot seat for less than six months. Antić then returned briefly in early 1999 only to be replaced by Claudio Ranieri at the end of the season. The 1999–00 season proved disastrous for Atlético. In December 1999, Gil and his board got suspended pending investigation into the misuse of club funds and government-appointed administrator José Manuel Rubí began running Atlético's day to day operations. With the removal of club president Jesús Gil and his board, the club floundered and the players put in disastrous performances. Ranieri handed in his resignation with the club in 17th spot out of 20 and heading towards relegation. The return of Antić for the third coaching stint failed to prevent the inevitable. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final, Atlético were relegated.^[31]

Atlético spent two seasons in the Segunda División, narrowly missing out on promotion in 2001 before winning the Segunda División championship in 2002. It was again Luis Aragonés, in his last spell as a manager of Atlético, who brought Atlético to the Primera División.^[32] He also coached the team during the next season, being the one who gave Fernando Torres the opportunity to make his debut in La Liga at the Camp Nou against FC Barcelona in 2–2 draw.^[33]

Aguirre era (2006–2009)[link]

Atlético Madrid fans in 2005

In 2006, Fernando Torres, one of the biggest talents in recent Spanish football history, was joined by Portuguese internationals Costinha and Maniche and also by Argentine striker Sergio Agüero.

Torres shocked the club in June 2007 when he stated his desire to play for Liverpool. He left Atlético and joined the English giants on 4 July 2007 for £26.5 million.^[34] Luis García moved in the opposite direction at the same time in an unrelated transfer.^[34] Around the same time, Atlético also made a splash by signing Uruguay international and former European Golden Boot/Pichichi winner Diego Forlán for roughly €21 million from Villarreal CF.^[35] Several weeks later, the club gave up the Bulgarian Martin Petrov to Manchester City for €7 million, but got a replacement shortly after in Portuguese star Simão, signed from Benfica for roughly €20 million. On 29 July, it was announced that Atlético had signed winger José Antonio Reyes for €12 million.^[36][37]

In July 2007, the Atlético board reached an agreement with the City of Madrid to sell the land where their stadium is and move the club to the Olympic Stadium, owned by the city. Atlético will be allowed to play in Vicente Calderón stadium until 2010. The new stadium will be owned by the club in 2016. Madrid had applied to host the 2016 Olympic Games; they lost out to Rio de Janeiro.^[38]

The 2007–08 season proved to be the most successful season for the club in the past decade. The team reached the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup, where they were defeated by Bolton Wanderers. They also reached the quarter-final round of the Copa del Rey, where they were beaten by eventual champions Valencia CF. More significantly, the team finished the La Liga season in fourth place, qualifying for the Champions League. Sergio Agüero, Diego Forlán, Simão, Maxi Rodríguez, and goalkeeper Leo Franco returned Atlético to top European football for the first time since the 1996–97 season, when Atlético lost in the quarter-final round to Dutch giants AFC Ajax.^[39]

The 2008–09 season had proven to be another great stride forward in the resurrection of Atlético's reputation as a force to be reckoned with in both domestic and European football, with participation continuing in the Champions League. Performances in La Liga, however, were not as successful as the club would have liked. This forced the club to make some new signings, adding French goalkeeper Grégory Coupet, Dutch central defender John Heitinga, Czech central defender Tomáš Ujfaluši, Brazilian central midfielder Paulo Assunção, Argentine midfielder Éver Banega — on loan from Valencia — and French forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle to the lineup, joining Portuguese central midfielder Maniche, who continued his loan-spell.

On 3 February 2009, Javier Aguirre was dismissed from his post as manager after a terrible start to 2009, going without a win in six games. He later claimed this was simply not the case, and that he had been released by mutual termination rather than sacked.^[40] There was a public outrage after his dismissal, many believing he was not the cause of Atlético's problems, specifically player Diego Forlán. He backed his former manager and said that, "Dismissing Javier was the easy way out, but he was not the cause of our problems. The players are to blame because we have not been playing well and we have been committing a lot of errors." This led to the appointment of Abel Resino as Atlético's new manager.^[41]

Atlético's success continued in the latter half of the season when they placed 4th once again in the league table, securing a position in the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League. Striker Diego Forlán was crowned with the Pichichi Trophy and also won the European Golden Shoe, for scoring 32 goals for Atlético that season.^[42] Atlético saw this domestic success as an opportunity to reinforce their squad for the upcoming Champions League season. They departed company with veteran goalkeeper Leo Franco and brought in David de Gea from the youth ranks and signed promising youngster Sergio Asenjo, from Real Valladolid. Atlético also purchased Real Betis defender and Spanish international Juanito on a free transfer. Despite pressure from big clubs to purchase their star players of Agüero and Forlán, Atlético remained committed to keeping their strong attacking base in the hopes for a successful new season.

The 2009–10 Atlético season, however, began poorly with many defeats and goals conceded. On 21 October, Atletico were hammered 4–0 by the English giants Chelsea in the Champions League group stage.^[43] This defeat led to Atletico's management announcement that manager Abel Resino had to leave.^[44] After failing to sign Danish former footballer Michael Laudrup, Atlético Madrid made it official that the new manager for the rest of the season was Quique Flores.^[45][46]

European successes (2009–2012)[link]

2010 UEFA Europa League Final squads

With the arrival of Quique Flores as coach, Atlético saw a huge change of fortunes. Though they continued to lag somewhat in La Liga during the 2009–10 season, finishing in the ninth position. Atlético finished third in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage entering the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League round of 32. On 12 May 2010, Atlético won the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, beating English teams Liverpool in the semi-finals and eventually Fulham^[47] in the final held in the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.^[48][49] Diego Forlán scored twice, the second being an extra-time winner in the 116th minute, as Atlético Madrid claimed a 2–1 win.^[50]

It was the first time since the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup that Atlético had claimed a European title. They also reached the Copa del Rey final on 19 May 2010, where they faced Sevilla FC and had a good chance at achieving their first double (doblete) since 1996, when they won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey. But Atlético fell short, losing 2–0 to Sevilla at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.^[51] By winning the Europa League, they qualified for the 2010 UEFA Super Cup against Internazionale, winner of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, which was played in Monaco on 27 August 2010. Atlético won 2–0 with goals from José Antonio Reyes and Sergio Agüero, being Atlético's first such title, because in 1962, when Atlético won the European Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA had not yet established the UEFA Super Cup (Atlético would have eventually faced Benfica, winner of the 1961–62 European Cup).

Atlético had a comparatively disapponting 2010–11 season, finishing only seventh in the League and being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey and the Group Stage of the Europa League. This ultimately led to the departure of manager Quique Flores before the conclusion of the season, who was replaced with ex-Sevilla manager Gregorio Manzano, and who secured the final Europa League place for Atlético. Manzano himself was replaced with Diego Simeone in December 2011 after a poor run of form in La Liga. Simeone led Atlético to their second Europa League win in just three years since its creation, as Atlético beat Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in the final on 9 May 2012 in Bucharest with Falcao, a brace, and Diego scoring the goals.^[52][53]

El Derbi Madrileño[link]

Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are clubs with contrasting identities and very different fates. Historically, Real Madrid have long been seen as the establishment club. On the other side, the Rojiblancos were always characterized by a sentimiento de rebeldía, a sense of rebellion, although during the early Francisco Franco years, it was Atlético that was the preferred team of the regime, albeit forcefully. They were associated with the military airforce (renamed Atletico Aviacion), until the regime's preferences moved towards Real Madrid in the 1950s.

Certainly, the dictatorial state sought to make political capital out of Real Madrid's European Cup trophies at a time when Spain was internationally isolated; "Real Madrid are the best embassy we ever had", said one minister. Such perceptions have had an important impact on the city's footballing identities, tapping into the collective consciousness. In this vein, Atlético fans were probably the originators, and are the most frequent singers, of the song "Hala Madrid, hala Madrid, el equipo del gobierno, la verguenza del país", "Go Madrid, go Madrid, the government's team, the country's shame."

Atlético de Madrid has been struggling with big issues in the derby, which is still in action. Such as not achieving any win in the 21st century against Real Madrid. Their last victory was a 3-1 win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in 1999.

Players[link]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Diego Godín 4 MF Mario Suárez 5 MF Tiago Mendes 6 MF Filipe Luís 7 FW Adrián López 9 FW Radamel Falcao 11 MF Arda Turan 12 MF Paulo Assunção 14 MF Gabi 17 DF Sílvio 18 DF Álvaro Domínguez 19 MF Koke 20 MF Juanfran

No. Position Player 21 MF Emre Belözoğlu [54] 23 DF Miranda 25 GK Sergio Asenjo 41 FW Pedro Martín - GK Joel Robles - DF Jorge Pulido - MF Raúl García - MF Rúben Micael - MF Rubén Pérez - MF Cristian Rodríguez [55] - FW Diego Costa - FW Borja González

Notable players[link]

Adelardo holds the club's official appearance record, wearing the Madrid shirt in 511 matches from 1959 to 1976. Luis Aragonés, club legend as both player and coach, holds the record for most goals scored with 172. While Adrián Escudero has the record for most goals in La Liga with 150. Luis Perea is the club's current record appearance holder, with 314.

Name Nationality Appearances 1 Adelardo 511 2 Enrique Collar 470 3 Tomás Reñones 463 4 Juan Carlos Aguilera 454 5 Isacio Calleja 425 6 Juan Carlos Arteche 421 7 Luis Aragonés 372 8 Alberto Fernández 361 9 Feliciano Rivilla 356 10 Adrián Escudero 330

Name Nationality Goals 1 Luis Aragonés 172 2 Adrián Escudero 170 3 Francisco Campos 144 4 José Eulogio Gárate 136 5 Joaquín Peiró 129 6 Adelardo 113 7 Enrique Collar 104 8 Sergio Agüero 101 9 Rubén Cano 97 10 Diego Forlán 96

Staff[link]

Managers[link]

The following managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Atlético Madrid:

Name	Period	Trophies
Ricardo Zamora	1939–46	2 La Liga, Supercopa de España
Emilio Vidal	1946–48	Copa Presidente FEF
Helenio Herrera	1949–53	2 La Liga, Supercopa de España
José Villalonga	1960–62	2 Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Domènec Balmanya	1965–66	La Liga, Copa del Rey
Marcel Domingo	1969–72, 1979–80	La Liga
Max Merkel	1971–73	La Liga, Copa del Rey
Luis Aragonés	1974–80, 1982–87, 1991–93, 2001–03	Intercontinental Cup, La Liga, 3 Copas del Rey, Supercopa de España, Iberian Cup, Segunda División
Tomislav Ivić	1990–91	Copa del Rey
Santos Ovejero	1992–93, 1994–95	Copa del Rey
Radomir Antić	1995–98	La Liga, Copa del Rey
Javier Aguirre	2006–09	UEFA Intertoto Cup
Quique Flores	2009–2011	UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup
Diego Simeone	2012–	UEFA Europa League

Presidents[link]

Current Board[link]

• President: Mr. Enrique Cerezo Torres.

• General Manager / Delegate to the Board: Mr. Miguel Ángel Gil Marín
• Secretary to the Board: Mr. Pablo Jiménez de Parga Maseda

• Sports Director: Mr. José Luis Caminero
• PR & Communications Director: Mr. Emilio Gutíerrez
• Financial Director: Mr. Mario Aragón
• Marketing & Sales Director: Mr. Guillermo Moraleda

• Board Members: Mr. Jesús Gil Marín, Mr. Óscar Gil Marín, Ms. Myriam Gil Marín, Mr. Severiano Gil y Gil, Mr. Miguel Pérez Cano, Mr. Lázaro Albarracín Martínez, Mr. Fernando García Abásolo, Mr. Antonio Alonso Sanz, Mr. Manuel Herrero Porta and Mr. Rhydian Davies

Recent history[link]

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Notes
1995–96	1D	1st	42	26	9	7	75	32	87	Winner			First double in Club's history
1996–97	1D	5	42	20	11	11	76	64	71	Quarter-final	UCL	Quarter-final	Final Supercopa
1997–98	1D	7	38	16	12	10	79	56	60	Round of 16	UC	Semi-final
1998–99	1D	13	38	12	10	16	54	50	46	Final	UC	Semi-final
1999–2000	1D	19	38	9	11	18	48	64	38	Final	UC	4th round	Relegated
2000–01	2D	4	42	21	11	10	59	39	74	Semi-final
2001–02	2D	1st	42	23	10	9	68	44	79	First round			Promoted
2002–03	1D	11	38	12	11	15	51	56	47	Quarter-final
2003–04	1D	7	38	15	10	13	51	53	55	Quarter-final
2004–05	1D	11	38	13	11	14	40	34	50	Semi-Final			Final UEFA Intertoto Cup
2005–06	1D	10	38	13	13	12	45	37	52	Round of 16
2006–07	1D	7	38	17	9	12	46	39	60	Round of 16
2007–08	1D	4	38	19	7	12	66	47	64	Quarter-final	UC	Round of 32	Win UEFA Intertoto Cup
2008–09	1D	4	38	20	7	11	80	57	67	Round of 16	UCL	Round of 16
2009–10	1D	9	38	13	8	17	57	61	47	Final	UEL	Winner	UCL – Out in Group Round
2010–11	1D	7	38	17	7	14	62	53	58	Quarter-final	UEL	Group Round	Win UEFA Super Cup
2011–12	1D	5	38	15	11	12	53	46	56	Round of 32	UEL	Winner

Stadium Information[link]

Vicente Calderón Stadium

The club play their home games at the 54,960^[1] seat Estadio Vicente Calderón in southern Madrid. Before this, the club played originally at the Ronda de Vallecas until 1923. After the completion of the Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid in 1923, the club moved there until the Vicente Calderón was finished in 1966.

The club plan to move in 2015 to the renovated Estadio La Peineta,^[56] which will be expanded from a 20,000 seat capacity to 73,000 after it was used for Madrid's failed bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Vicente Calderón will be demolished, and replaced by a waterfront park at the banks of the Manzanares River in Madrid.^[57] The club's training ground is the Ciudad Deportiva de Majadahonda, 20 km west of Madrid. The facility maintains grass and artificial patches as well as a gym. Both the senior and youth squads train here.^[58]

Atlético also runs a sports academy at the Ciudad Deportiva del Nuevo Cerro del Espino in Majadahonda.

Uniform[link]

Atlético began playing in blue and white, similar to Athletic Bilbao, but soon changed to their traditional red and white stripes by 1911. Many believe the change was influenced because red and white striped tops were the cheapest stripes to make, because the same combination was used to make bed mattresses, and the unused cloth was easily converted into football shirts. The kit has been made by Nike for the past nine years, as the company wants to provide competition against Real Madrid, who have a deal with Adidas. The current shirt sponsor is Kia Motors, while the AXN cable channel, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, has a minor sponsorship on the back of the shorts and Kyocera has a sponsor's logo on the back of the shirt, Finnish gambling monopoly PAF has a sponsorship on the clubs shorts. Previously, the club was sponsored by Columbia Pictures, who would change the shirt sponsor's logo, and occasionally the shirt itself, as they did with the away shirt when Spider-Man 2 was in cinemas. Because shirts would have to be introduced and removed from shops at a very fast pace to keep up with film releases, Nike decided to not include a sponsor's logo on replica shirts made from 2002 to 2005.

Atlético players wearing red and white stripe shirts with blue shorts, 1931

• (*) – 1990–93, 1994–96, 1997–99 Marbella Tourism Board, as Jesús Gil was mayor of Marbella at this time.
• (**) – 2003–05 Columbia Pictures (Movies advertised on the shirt included: Bewitched, Hollywood Homicide, S.W.A.T., Big Fish, Hellboy, Spanglish, Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse, Hitch, xXx, and the aforementioned Spider-Man 2)

Honours[link]

Regional[link]

• Campeonato Regional Centro
  • Winners (4): 1920–21, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1939–40

Domestic Competitions[link]

• La Liga
  • Winners (9): 1939–40, 1940–41, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1995–96
  • Runners-up (8): 1943–44, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1973–74, 1984–85, 1990–91
• Copa del Rey
  • Winners (9): 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1995–96
  • Runners-up (9): 1921, 1926, 1955–56, 1963–64, 1974–75, 1986–87, 1998–99, 1999-00, 2009–10
• Supercopa de España
  • Winners (1): 1985
  • Runners-up (3): 1991, 1992, 1996
• Copa de Campeones de España (Predecessor to the Supercopa de España)
  • Winners (1): 1940^[59]
• Copa Eva Duarte (Predecessor to the Supercopa de España)
  • Winners (1): 1951^[60]
  • Runners-up (1): 1950
• Copa Presidente FEF
  • Winners (1): 1947
• Segunda División
  • Winners (1): 2001–02
  • Runners-up (2): 1932–33, 1933–34

European[link]

• UEFA Champions League
  • Runners-up (1): 1973–74
• UEFA Europa League
  • Winners (2): 2009–10, 2011–12
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  • Winners (1): 1961–62
  • Runners-up (2): 1962–63, 1985–86
• UEFA Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 2010

World[link]

• Intercontinental Cup
  • Winners (1): 1974

See also[link]

• Atlético Madrid B
• Atlético Madrid C
• Trofeo Villa de Madrid

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Spanish) (English) Atlético de Madrid Official Website
• (English)(Spanish) Atlético de Madrid at La Liga
• (English) Atletico's formations at football-lineups

Arda Turan

Personal information
Full name	Arda Turan
Date of birth	(1987-01-30) 30 January 1987 (age 25)
Place of birth	Istanbul, Turkey
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Atlético Madrid
Number	11
Youth career
1997-2000	Altıntepsi Makelspor
2000–2005	Galatasaray
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2011	Galatasaray	127	(31)
2005–2006	→ Manisaspor (loan)	15	(2)
2011–	Atlético Madrid	33	(3)
National team‡
2002	Turkey U16	10	(2)
2003–2004	Turkey U17	30	(3)
2003–2005	Turkey U18	11	(2)
2004–2006	Turkey U19	18	(6)
2005	Turkey U20	2	(0)
2006	Turkey U21	2	(0)
2006–	Turkey	54	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 March 2012[1]

Arda Turan (born 30 January 1987) is a Turkish footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid^[2][3] and the Turkish national team, as a left winger. At the age of 22, prior to the 2009–10 season he was made the captain of Galatasaray.

Arda already has 50 senior national caps and 12 goals for Turkey, and following a successful Euro 2008 campaign, he was ranked 8th in a selection of the 100 Best Young Football Players in the World, published by Spanish magazine Don Balón in July 2008.^[4] In January 2011, Arda was voted as the third most popular European footballer of 2009, and the 14th most popular footballer in the world, by the IFFHS.^[5][6]

Club career[link]

Galatasaray[link]

Arda is a product of the Galatasaray youth. He was promoted to first team by Gheorghe Hagi in 2004–05 season, making his official debut against Bursaspor in a Turkish Cup match on 22 January 2005. He had a spell on loan to fellow Super Lig side Manisaspor in the second half of the 2005–06 season. He was recalled the for the start of the following 2006–07 season, and quickly broke into the first team. It was during this time that he received his first senior international call up. Arda helped Galatasaray to qualify to the Champions League group stage.

Arda continued his development in the 2007–08 season, scoring seven goals in the second half of the season. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Arda was handed the captaincy of Galatasaray,^[7] and was handed squad number 10, which had previously belonged to Metin Oktay and Gheorghe Hagi, having previously worn number 66.^[8] As captain at the start of the 2009–10 season, he guided his team to six consecutive league wins games which put Galatasaray comfortably at the top of the table. He has scored seven goals and registered 17 assists^{[citation needed]} in all competitions so far this season.

In the 2010–11 season, Arda Turan, was troubled with injuries and played a limited amount of games. By the end of the season Arda Turan had only played in 12 league games which he scored 2 goals and 3 cup games which he scored 1 goal in.

Atlético Madrid[link]

In the late hours of 9 August 2011 it was announced that Arda would be joining Atlético Madrid for a fee of €12 million + bonuses,^[9] making him the most expensive Turkish football transfer of all time.^[10][11]

He made his 2011–12 debut on 28 August 2011, against Osasuna coming on as a substitute player in the 61st minute. He made his UEFA Europa League debut on 15 September 2011, against Celtic, starting in the starting eleven and assisting a goal by Diego. On 18 September 2011, Arda was selected in the starting eleven and snatched two assists, one for forward Falcao, the other for Adrian.^{[citation needed]} On 25 October 2011, Galatasaray President, Ünal Aysal, stated that Arda will come back to Galatasaray under Right of first refusal signed between Galatasaray and Atlético Madrid during the interview with Lig TV.^[12] On 30 November 2011, Arda scored his first goal for Atlético Madrid in a UEFA Europa League game against Celtic, with a powerful volley^{[citation needed]} from just outside the box. On 11 December 2011, Arda scored his first goal of the La Liga season with a driven volley^{[citation needed]}just outside the box. In the UEFA Europa League game that followed, Arda netted again in a 3–1 win against Rennes.

Turan scored two goals in two minutes as Atlético defeated Espanyol 3–1 on 22 April 2012 to move his side into seventh place and just three points behind Malaga in the final Champions League spot.^[13] On May 9th, in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final, he made an assist to his teammate Falcao, which made the match 2–0.

International career[link]

Senior team[link]

Arda is an international regular having made over 40 appearances for Turkey at senior level. He made his debut in the 1–0 friendly victory over Luxembourg on August 16, 2006, having worked his way through the youth National Team at U19 and U21 level. He scored his first international goal on May 25, 2008 in a friendly against Uruguay.

Euro 2008[link]

Arda featured in nine of Turkey's twelve qualification matches for Euro 2008, and starred in the finals of the tournament itself. He scored two goals during Turkey's progression to the semi-finals. The first was a 92nd minute winner against the Swiss in their second group game to knock them out of the competition. His second came in the final group game against the Czech Republic, in which the winner would go through to the quarter-finals due to identical records. He scored Turkey's first goal in the 75th minute, beating Petr Čech with a low shot, which lead to Turkey coming from 2–0 down to win the match. He also successfully converted a spot-kick in the penalty shootout against Croatia in the quarter-finals, taking Turkey to the semis where they were eventually knocked out by losing finalists Germany.

2010 World Cup[link]

Arda scored two goals during the qualification rounds of the World Cup, but ultimately Turkey failed to qualify from their group. After a qualifier in September 2008 between Armenia and Turkey, two sides which have historical political problems, both teams received a FIFA Fair Play Award for 2008.^[14] He scored the Turkish national team's 600th international goal, in a 2010 World Cup qualification game against Estonia on 5 September 2009.^[15]

Euro 2012[link]

Arda scored four goals for Turkey during the qualification rounds of the UEFA Euro 2012, two against Kazakhstan, one against Belgium and one against Austria. However, the Turkish national football team could not qualify for the Euro 2012 after being eliminated by the Croatian national football team in the play-offs.

Career statistics[link]

As of 9 May 2012^{[1][16][17][18]}

Club[link]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
Club	Division	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Supercopa de España		Europe		Total
Atlético Madrid	La Liga	2011–12	33	3	0	0	0	0	12	2	45	5
		Club Total	33	3	0	0	0	0	12	2	45	5
Turkey			League		Türkiye Kupası		Turkish Super Cup		Europe		Total
Galatasaray	Süper Lig	2010–11	12	2	3	1	0	0	3	3	18	6
		2009–10	29	7	6	4	0	0	12	0	47	11
		2008–09	29	7	6	2	0	0	11	2	46	11
		2007–08	30	7	7	0	0	0	7	1	44	8
		2006–07	26	5	3	1	0	0	7	2	36	8
		Club Total	126	31	25	8	0	0	40	8	191	47
Manisaspor	Süper Lig	2005–06	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	2
		Club Total	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	2
Galatasaray	Süper Lig	2004–05	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
		Club Total	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
TOTAL	Turkey		142	33	26	8	0	0	40	8	208	49
	Spain		33	3	0	0	0	0	12	2	45	5
CAREER TOTAL			175	36	26	8	0	0	52	10	253	52