MADRID, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid on Wednesday confirmed the signing of striker Moussa Dembele on loan from Olympique Lyonnais.
Dembele will stay until the end of the season and Atletico have the option to make the move permanent for around 33 million euros (40 million U.S. dollars).
His arrival will cover the departure of Diego Costa, whose contract was recently rescinded, leaving Luis Suarez as the only regular striker in Diego Simeone’s squad.
MADRID, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) — La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid became the highest profile victim of a giant-killing act when it was knocked out of the Copa del Rey by third-tier side Cornella.
A seventh-minute goal from Cornella defender Adrian Jimenez knocked Atletico out of the tournament at an early stage for the second year in succession.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone fielded a strong side which included B-team defender Ricard Sanchez, who blotted his copybook when he was sent off for two yellow cards in the 63rd minute.
Granada needed extra-time and a 116th minute winner from Darwin Machis to get past Cultural Leon, who, like Cornella, also play in Segunda B. Marc Roviola put Cultural ahead after three minutes, and it looked as Atletico’s conquerors from last season were set to produce another upset, but Jorge Molina equalized in the 19th minute.
The remaining 70 minutes of regulation time failed to produce any further goals, and Machis scored his winner after an error from home keeper Andoni Zubiaurre.
Levante striker Sergio Leon scored twice to rescue his side from an upset against third-tier Portugalete in one of the two midday kick-offs. Leon put Levante ahead from close range in the 29th minute and scored a 93rd minute header to avoid extra-time after Mario Musy had headed Portugalete level from a free-kick just before the hour.
In the other midday game, Elche beat fellow third-tier side La Nucia 1-0 thanks to Lucas Boye’s goal at the start of the second half.
Real Betis had to come back after conceding an early goal to Multivera in Pamplona. Javier Brinon opened the scoring for the home side in the fourth minute, but defenders Joan Miranda and Emerson turned the score around before half-time and Juanmi sealed the win on the hour.
Finally Osasuna moved into the next round with an easy 3-0 win in Olot with goals from Oir, Ante Budimir and Kike Barja, while Alaves also progressed thanks to Luis Rioja’s 75th minute winner away to Deportivo La Coruna.
Tuesday’s games saw Ibiza surprise Celta Vigo, while Granada defeated Getafe.
MADRID, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) — Atletico Madrid took a big stride towards this season’s La Liga title with a 2-0 win away to Real Sociedad on Tuesday, while Barcelona’s Lionel Messi set a new record of 644 goals scored for a single club.
Real Sociedad started the game three points behind Atletico after last weekend’s results, but after an even first half, Mario Hermoso opened the scoring three minutes after the break with a powerful header after slack defending from a free kick. Marcos Llorente doubled Atletico’s lead with a thumping left-footed shot 15 minutes from time.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman fielded three central defenders and two wing-backs for his side’s visit to Real Valladolid and was rewarded with a comfortable 3-0 win.
Clement Lenglet opened the scoring with a thumping header from a corner in the 21st minute, before Martin Braithwaite finished off a flowing team move 10 minutes before half-time.
Lionel Messi scored Barca’s third 25 minutes from time, setting a new record for goals scored for a single club (644) to beat the long-standing landmark set by Pele. Barca thus move up to fifth behind Villarreal, who were held to their fifth draw in six games by a battling Athletic Bilbao side.
Inaki Williiams, whose 18 year-old brother Nico was in the Athletic squad for the first time, opened the scoring in the 19th minute as the Basque outfit controlled the first half.
Villarreal upped their game after the break and scored a deserved equalizer 16 minutes from time thanks to substitute Yeremi Pino’s powerful volley at the far post. After a creditable draw away to Barcelona on Saturday, Valencia returned to their struggles with a 1-0 defeat at home to Sevilla, who claimed three points that keep them in the battle for the top-four thanks to a goal from Suso 10 minutes from time.
The Spain international latched onto a through-ball, cut inside a defender and hit a powerful shot that Jaume Domenech got a hand to, but was unable to keep out of the net.
Huesca continue with just one win all season after they drew 1-1 at home to Levante. Javi Ontiveros put Levante ahead from the penalty spot after VAR spotted a handball from Ruben Vezo, but in a misty ground, Gonzalo Melero equalized seven minutes into the second half following a corner.
Osasuna twice took the lead away to Elche thanks to Ruben Garcia and Darko Brasanac, but twice saw how the home side pegged them back thanks to Fidel and Guido Carrillo, with Osasuna midfielder Inigo Perez sent off in injury time.
MONTEVIDEO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) — Luis Suarez has revealed he did not think twice about joining Atletico Madrid after being told by new Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman that he was no longer required at the club.
The 33-year-old opened up about his September departure from the Camp Nou after scoring from the penalty spot to help Uruguay beat Chile 2-1 in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier on Thursday. “I did not take Barcelona’s message about needing a change of air very well,” Suarez said.
“More than anything, because of the way it was handled, because you have to recognize when a cycle is over.
“What my family wanted was to see me happy. There are things that are not known, but at Barcelona they send you away to train separately… My wife was the one who saw that I was down and let me take the opportunity. When Atletico came looking for me, I didn’t hesitate for a moment.”
Suarez’s exit after six seasons and 198 goals with the Blaugrana prompted his teammate and close friend Lionel Messi to publicly criticize the club as he bid an emotional farewell on social media.
“I wasn’t surprised by what Messi did because I know him well,” Suarez said.
“He knew the pain I was feeling. The way it was handled, as if I was being thrown out, is what hurts most. There were other ways to do it. They were six years and that’s what bothered him [Messi] too. I see him as a friend and he knows how we suffered.”
MADRID, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman on Saturday told the press that he understood Leo Messi’s frustration at seeing his striking partner and friend Luis Suarez leave the club this week.
Messi on Friday published a ‘goodbye’ letter to Suarez, who has joined Atletico Madrid in which he accused Barca of kicking Suarez out of the club and adding that “nothing surprised” him anymore.
When asked about Messi’s latest criticism of the club after his failed attempt to leave this summer, Koeman chose to be diplomatic.
“It’s normal for me to be sad when a friend leaves the club, but the important thing is how he (Messi) is training and playing.”
“He has been an example; he is upset, but he has come back working hard and he will show that in matches,” commented Koeman, who made it clear he was not the only person responsible for behind Suarez’s departure.
“I look like the bad guy and I’m not.
I told him that maybe he wasn’t going to have minutes, but that if he stayed I would count on him.
It was not just my decision, but also the club’s,” he commented.
The coach was also asked about new signings and refused to rule out moves for wither Memphis Depay or Lautaro Martinez, but he commented fans would “have to wait.”
“We are looking for players to improve the team, but the economic issue is complicated.”
“What I want may not be possible. I knew that and I accept it,” explained Koeman
MADRID, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) — Matchday 3 of La Liga sees FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Elche play their first games of the season, while Real Madrid has another difficult away game.
Here are some things to look out for in Spain this weekend.
1. Koeman’s Barcelona debut at home to Villarreal
It has been such a complicated summer for FC Barcelona that it is almost hard to know where to begin.
Ronald Koeman takes over a side that is now without Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Luis Suarez, who joined Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
Lionel Messi will clearly be the focus of attention after his summer request to leave the club, but Antoine Griezmann has to step up after Suarez’s departure and Frenkie de Jong has to do the same in a side now without Vidal and Rakitic.
Philippe Coutinho also has a lot to prove after his loan spell at Bayern, while questions remain over what style of play Koeman will look to impose.
And all of this against a rival that in Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcacer has two of the best strikers in La Liga.
Will it be a happy start for Koeman, or will he face problems from the very start?
2. Another tough game for Real Madrid
Real Madrid controlled most of the ball in its league debut away to Real Sociedad a week ago, but failed to create enough chances to win the game, raising questions about what was also the club’s main problem last season.
Opponent Real Betis has started the campaign well under Manuel Pellegrini and the former Real Madrid coach looks to have added steel to a side which flattered to deceive last season.
Zidane has a doubt over Martin Odegaard after confusion surrounding a COVID-19 test, but the coach’s main problem will be how to get the best out of an attack likely to still be without Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio, who are struggling with fitness issues.
Madrid is likely to control most of the game, but Zidane needs wide forwards Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr to turn control into goals.
3. Difficult debut for Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid’s pre-season hasn’t been a bed of roses with coach Diego Simeone testing positive for COVID-19 and central defender Jose Gimenez also returning a positive test at the start of the week to complicate preparations for their league debut at home to an impressive Granada.
Atletico got a huge boost with Suarez’s arrival this week, but the Uruguayan won’t be fit to start on Sunday, while Alvaro Morata has now left to join Juventus.
Granada has won all four of its competitive matches this season and has a lot in common with Atletico in that they combine tough defensive organization with a high rate of effectiveness from set pieces.
If Atletico is below its best, it could start by dropping points.
4. Early crisis in the Basque Country?
Eibar has started the campaign with two defeats, while Athletic Bilbao lost in Granada on the opening day of the season.
However, with fans unhappy at Athletic’s disappointing end to last campaign, question marks over coach Gaizka Garitano’s defensive instincts and a lack of goals in attack, a defeat in the Ipurua Stadium would only increase the discontent surrounding a club that has so far failed to make any summer signings.
MADRID, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — Another season lies ahead for Atletico Madrid, but despite their third-place finish in the 2019-2020 campaign, they go into the new season with more doubts hanging over Diego Simeone’s side than at any time since he took over as coach in 2011.
2019-20 was a strange season for Atletico, who were well below their best for a long time – losing to third tier Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey and dropping more points than usual in La Liga.
Indeed, before the enforced break due to the coronavirus, Atletico were in sixth place in the table and it looked as if a top-four spot and qualification for the Champions League were in doubt.
However, the hectic last 11 games saw Atletico find form and as rivals such as Real Sociedad and Getafe lost ground, in the end the top four was secured with relative ease.
Atletico’s finish to the season even gave hope that they could take advantage of the changed format for the last eight of the Champions League and secure a title that has so far evaded them, but German side RB Leipzig put paid to that optimism at the first hurdle in which Atletico showed many of their usual flaws and few of their virtues.
Once again Atletico preferred to play their defensive game and only looked to attack their rivals when they had fallen behind as they were outplayed for long periods.
There is no doubt that the back four lined up in front of the impressive Jan Oblak is usually hard to break down; Atletico only conceded 27 league goals last season and they only lost four times in La Liga.
However, just 51 league goals and 16 draws show where Atletico’s chances all too often disappear. They are hard to break down and they are hard to beat, but all too often they are unable or unwilling to take the initiative and ultimately that costs them points.
Simeone will (and does) argue he doesn’t have the resources that are available to Real Madrid and Barcelona, but while that may be true, he has more cash to splash than anyone else in Spain and with players such as Koke, Thomas Partey Vitolo, Angel Correa, Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix, he certainly does have players to entertain.
Perhaps the best news for Atletico last season was Simeone’s decision to convert Marcos Llorente from a defensive into an attacking midfielder and if Llorente can recreate his form from the end of the campaign he will become a key player.
Meanwhile Atletico fans will want to see more from record signing Joao Tomas after the youngster showed signs of his undoubtable talent in his debut season in Spain. Simeone will not need the Portuguese to start leading the Atletico attack, rather than playing an attractive bit-part.
Llorente and Joao Tomas will give hope for another top-three finish, but with no new faces so far this summer, there is no reason to think that Atletico will mount a serious title campaign.
Indeed the worry for some must be that last season saw the beginning of diminishing returns for Simeone and although he has always been able to maintain his team looking refreshed and motivated, 2020-21 might just be a season too far for Simeone’s defensive style unless he is willing to be more proactive in attack.
MADRID, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) — An 81st-minute goal from FC Barcelona’s French international midfielder Pernille Mosgaard-Harder was enough to qualify her side for the semi-final of the Women’s Champions League with a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid in Athletic Club Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium.
Barca deserved the win, but they were made to work hard by an Atletico side missing five first-team players because of the coronavirus.
In many ways, the first half was similar to a game between the two clubs’ respective men’s teams, with Barcelona looking to control the ball, but failing to create clear chances against a well-drilled Atletico midfield and defense.
Although Barca looked to move the ball across the pitch, the lack of speed in their moves made it relatively easy for Atletico to keep their shape.
Atletico keeper Hedvig Lindahl got an important hand to a cross in the 13th minute after Lieke Martens whipped in a dangerous cross, while at the other end Kylie Strom slashed the ball wide from a narrow-angle.
Barca’s best chance came just after the half-hour after Alexia Putellas fired just wide following a corner.
The second half began much like the first, but slowly Barca began to get on top and carve out chances only to be frustrated by Lindahl, who kept out Oshola, who had been filtered through by Jenny Hermoso.
The Swedish keeper did even better to deny Hansen in the 74th minute after another excellent ball from Hermoso into space in the right channel.
It looked as if a goal was about to come and it arrived 10 minutes from time when Hansen’s cross from the right fell kindly to Kheira Hamraoui, who swept home with her right foot from inside the Atletico penalty area.
Atletico, who only traveled with 14 first-team players in their squad were unable to respond and Hermoso was closer to a second goal for Barca than Atletico were to an equalizer.
MADRID, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) — Atletico Madrid have completed the signing of goalkeeper Ivo Grbic from Lokomotiva Zagreb with B-team keeper Alex Dos Santos moving the other way as part of the deal.
24-year-old Grbic has made 74 first-team appearances for Lokomotiva Zagreb and represented Croatia at every level up to and including Under-21, as well as receiving a call up into the full national team squad.
“It is a very important step in my career. I want to learn in every training session from one of the best goalkeepers in the World (Jan Oblak). I think he is the best there is and Oblak comes from Slovenia, which is close to, Croatia and I have already spoken to him,” explain Grbic on the Atletico website.
Considered as “one of the goalkeepers with the best future in Croatia” according to the Atletico Madrid website, Grbic has agreed a contract with Atletico until the end of June 2024 and could be viewed as a long term successor to Oblak, whose continually impressive displays have attracted interest from the Premier League.
MADRID, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — Atletico Madrid are running into issues that they have commonly faced as a squad, as evidenced by a late goal for RB Leipzig that gave them Germans a 2-1 over the Spanish side to book their place in the Champions League semifinal.
“Leipzig were the better team, they had more of the ball, they were faster and more intense in their play,” admitted Atletico Madrid captain Koke minutes after Tyler Adams’ late goal lifted Leipzig to the win.
Atletico had gone into the game as favorites for most in Spain, with speculation that this could be their year after a run of seven wins and four draws after the return of La Liga in June, but it was not to be, and their season is now over.
“You have to give a lot of the merit to Leipzig for the way they went into the game, but we also have to take some of the blame for not being able to understand the way they played and people like me, have to read things faster,” admitted Koke’s midfielder partner Saul Niguz, who admitted that his team had sat too deep.
“When we won the ball back, we were so far from their goal that it can be difficult to attack,” he said.
Once again Atletico’s dreams lie in ruins close to the final hurdle, after their two final defeats to Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016.
Although this game comes four years down the line, it still highlights Atletico’s traditional failings.
In 2014, they took the lead against their bitter local rivals with a Diego Godin header and then looked to defend their lead only for Sergio Ramos to cancel it out in the 93rd minute and for Real to then run them ragged in injury time.
2016 saw Real Madrid take the lead in the 16th minute. It was only when they needed to get back into the game that Atletico looked to take the initiative and they then outplayed their neighbors with Yannick Carrasco equalizing only for Real to win a title that Atletico deserved on penalties.
On Thursday, Atletico again struggled to take the initiative and sat back as Leipzig moved the ball swiftly before Del Olmo opened the scoring after the break.
The introduction of Joao Felix sparked life into Atletico, who went on the attack, produced 20 minutes of impressive football and equalized with a penalty from the young Portuguese.
But rather than press on Atletico, either through tiredness or tactics, again sat back and it was Adams who sealed the win.
Fortune smiled on Atletico in the previous round as they stared defeat in the face at Anfield and were again forced to attack and with Marcos Llorente proving to be their inspiration, but once again it was only when they really needed to that Diego Simeone’s side began to press forward and play attacking football.
It is easy to criticize Simeone for his defensive instincts, but in La Liga against sides with smaller budgets, more often than not Atletico get over the line, with their organization and talent grinding rivals down.
His sides are well drilled, motivated and know exactly what they are doing on the pitch and he has been able to keep Atletico from going stale for almost nine years, which is no mean achievement.
Simeone has taken Atletico to two Europa League titles, two Champions League finals, and they won La Liga in 2014 – a year when both Real Madrid and Barca underperformed. He has assured the club’s financial future by ensuring they qualify for the Champions League year after year when the seasons before his arrival saw them habitually fail to qualify for Europe.
“If it wasn’t for Simeone, Atletico would be Valencia,” commented one journalist on ‘Twitter’ on Thursday, in reference to another Spanish powerhouse that habitually punches under their weight against a backdrop of organizational chaos.
Perhaps it’s telling that their Europe League wins came after being knocked out of the group stage of the Champions League by more flamboyant opponents.
Simeone’s style of football will take Atletico to the brink of major success, but unless they show the courage and the ability to throw off their defensive chains, they will find themselves seeing glory, but without touching it themselves.
That is a shame, because as they showed for 15 minutes on Thursday, as they showed at Anfield, and as they showed in 2016 when they do attack, they are actually quite good at it.
