Atletico's success shows money isn't everything

Andy West 09:33 18/05/2014
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  • Epic triumph: Atletico fans celebrate after winning their first league title since 1996.

    Is Atletico Madrid’s La Liga trophy success the greatest title triumph in recent football history? It’s certainly difficult to overstate the significance of the achievement by Diego Simeone’s men, who have taken on two of the most financially powerful sports organisations in the world and beaten them.

    Last summer Barcelona and Real Madrid were engaged in an outlandishly expensive vanity project which seemed certain to guarantee that nobody in the rest of Spain – or even the rest of Europe – would be able to compete with them.

    Madrid splashed out close to €200 million (Dh1bn) to secure the high-profile signatures of Gareth Bale, Isco and Asier Illarramendi, whilst also rewarding Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo with a lucrative new contract.

    Over at the Nou Camp, Barca were investing more than €85m (Dh427.5m) on Neymar, the much-touted new global icon who was supposed to finally present a challenge to Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the title of the best player in the world.

    Meanwhile, Atletico sold last season’s leading scorer Radamel Falcao to Monaco to spark fears they would fall away from their third-place finish and become run of the mill once again.

    That certainly appeared to be the case when the only replacements they signed were veteran David Villa and emerging youngster Leo Baptistao, who has since been loaned out to Real Betis, while their only other significant summer additions were Toby Alderweireld and Josuha Guilavogui – hardly names to set the Vicente Calderon’s pulses racing.

    Yet here they are, less than a year later, newly crowned as champions of La Liga and eagerly anticipating the chance to add another glorious piece of silverware with next weekend’s Champions League final against Real Madrid.

    As astounding as success in Lisbon would be, it could be argued to represent a lesser achievement than the La Liga trophy they have already secured.

    To win the Champions League, they will have played just 13 games, a couple of which were meaningless group stage affairs after top spot had already been assured. Winning La Liga, on the other hand, required a concerted effort over the course of 38 games and more than nine months, placing heavy physical demands upon the squad.

    In modern football – certainly in the major, rich leagues – those prizes almost exclusively go only to the most financially powerful clubs.

    A look at this season’s title winners across Europe suffices to emphasise that point: Manchester City; Paris Saint-Germain; Juventus; Bayern Munich.

    Atletico’s La Liga triumph should be warmly welcomed as proof that money doesn’t always buy success and the old-fashioned virtue of hard work – Diego Simeone’s favourite two words – can still pay dividends.

    Don’t get used to it. Atletico’s success has needed a superhuman effort that probably won’t be matched for a very long time, and the raw power of money will almost certainly regain its position of ascendancy next season.

    But let’s not worry about that for now; let’s just salute one of the greatest teams of our times.

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