The lowdown on Atlético Madrid
Barça host Atlético Madrid this Sunday at 4.15pm CET in what is traditionally one of the biggest clashes of any Liga season.
Let’s take a closer look at the mattress-makers.
HISTORY
Founded by Basques living in the Spanish capital (hence the name and the red and white shirts modelled on those of Athletic Club) Atlético Madrid is one of the biggest clubs in the world. But competing in the same league as the even more gargantuan Real Madrid and FC Barcelona means trophies have been harder to come by than one would normally expect for a club of such stature.
They have won eleven leagues, including two this century, in 2014 and again last season. They have also won the Europa League three times in the last decade, while also reaching the Champions League final twice, suffering the pain of losing on both occasions to their city rivals Real.
DID YOU KNOW?
Atlético Madrid are popularly known as los colchoneros (the ‘matrress-makers’) because their red-and-white stripes resemble what used to be the traditional colours of mattresses.
Atlético originally played in the working class district of Vallecas (home today of Rayo Vallecano) and still today are traditionally viewed as the more working class of the two big Madrid clubs.
King Felipe VI of Spain is an Atlético Madrid fan, and has been the club’s honorary president since 2003.
HEAD TO HEAD
Games between Barça and Atlético developed a tradition of being absolute humdingers, with goals flying in at both ends, but perhaps as a result of Diego Simeone’s ‘caution first’ approach, encounters in the last decade have instead tended to be intense, tactical and low-scoring affairs. In the last ten games between the teams in all competitions, both sides have averaged exactly one goal a game.
When Carrasco scored the only goal in Atlético’s win at the Wanda Metropolitano last season, it put an end to Barça’s astonishing run of 20 consecutive league encounters without losing to Atlético.
The sides drew 0-0 at Camp Nou later in the season, a huge result for keeping Atlético’s ultimately successful title battle alive and quelling Barça’s late challenge to win it themselves. And earlier this season, goals from Thomas Lemar and Luis Suárez meant a 2-0 defeat for Barça and a third consecutive game against Atlético without scoring a goal.
Last five meetings
9/1/20 (SUPER CUP IN JEDDAH) Barça 2 (Messi, Griezmann) Atlético 3
30/6/20 (LIGA) Barça 2 (OG, Messi) Atlético 2
21/11/20 (LIGA) Atlético 1 Barça 0
8/5/21 (LIGA) Barça 0 Atlético 0
2/10/21 (LIGA) Atlético 2 Barça 0
FORM GUIDE
Atlético’s title defence got off to a strong enough start, with just one defeat in their first fifteen games. However, in a miserable December they managed to lose all four fixtures and at least for now have dropped out of the title chase and are instead battling to hold onto one of the four places in next season’s Champions League. 2022 has started better for them, with two wins and a draw.
In this year’s edition, they squeezed through to the knockout stages thanks to a win in Porto on the final day and will now face Manchester United in the last sixteen.
They went out of the Copa del Rey to Real Sociedad and were beaten in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup by Athletic Club.
THE PLAYERS
Most capped internationals
Luis Suárez (Uruguay, 125); Antoine Griezmann (France, 98); Héctor Herrera (Mexico, 88); José Giménez (Uruguay, 70); Stefan Savić (Montenegro, 59); Koke (Spain, 58); Šime Vrsaljko (Croatia, 51); Yannick Carrasco (Belgium, 51); Jan Oblak (Slovenia, 40); Kieran Trippier (England, 34); Rodrigo de Paul (Argentina, 31); Thomas Lemar (France, 27)
Top scorers 2021/22 (all competitions)
Luis Suárez (9), Angel Correa (9), Antoine Griezmann (8)
Barça connections
Luis Suárez, one of the best and most successful players ever to come out of Uruguay, certainly in the modern era, joined Barça from Liverpool in 2014 and went on to score 198 goals for the club, placing him third in the all-time list. He departed for Atlético the summer before last. This is the second time he has returned to Camp Nou, but will be the first with fans in the stadium.
Antoine Griezmann joined Barça from Atlético Madrid in 2019, and after making 74 appearances and scoring 22 goals, making him the club’s second highest scoring Frenchman of all time after Thierry Henry, he is now back at Atlético on a loan deal. He has scored twice against Barça in the past, both when playing for Real Sociedad, but is in doubt for this game due to a muscle injury.
THE BOSS
Best known for his over 100 caps, including three World Cups, for Argentina, Diego Simeone played a large part of his club football at Atlético. Following retirement, he managed a number of clubs in his home country plus Catania in Italy before being invited back to Atlético in 2011 as a replacement for the sacked Gregorio Manzano.
He has gone on to become the club’s most successful manager ever, leading them to two Liga and three Europa League titles, and to the final of the Champions League on two occasions.
Simeone only won once at Camp Nou as a player, but never in the league, and as a coach remains winless after 14 visits.