In sport, it’s often good to see the established order being shaken up. And no sweeter a place for that to happen then La Liga.
As we all know, the Spanish league is often viewed as a glorified SPL in the sun. And with the advantages Barcelona and Real Madrid get in terms of TV revenue, do not expect that situation to change any time soon. Both clubs will dominate Spanish football for the foreseeable future.
But the current Atletico Madrid team can definitely consider themselves among the contenders for the La Liga title this season.
They have won every single league game including last week’s derby victory over Real Madrid which was their first of the 21st century.
Coupled with a fine start to their 2013-14 Champions League campaign with two wins from two in their group, confidence is sky-high in a part of Madrid which has been made to suffer often over the past few years.
But the success has been building for some time. Europa League titles in 2010 and 2012 were signs that something was flowering. And last season, Atletico held second spot for large portions of the season before Real Madrid reigned them in.
But they had the last laugh, beating Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final – a morale-boosting win of epic proportions for a club that is often looked down upon by their more illustrious neighbours.
Losing star striker Radamel Falcao over the summer could have been a hammer blow but Atletico have bought well, adding to a team that personified their bullish, tactically-astute and hard-working manager Diego Simeone.
But can Atletico sustain this success? Are their pieces which can be collected together to really build the club into a long-term third force in La Liga?
On Euro Footy Focus, we have seen many clubs such as Sevilla, Deportivo de la Coruna and Valencia spend seasons as Spain’s third club before the cracks appear and they fall away from that perch.
Firstly, the Academy is in good nick. We have seen midfield starlet Oliver Torres emerge on The Scouting Report, while impressive attacking midfielder Koke and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea also emerged from the youth ranks. Like many clubs below the elite level, academies can supplement the first team squad or boost finances assuming development is in rude health.
However there are worries for Atletico. One is the high level of debt that the club carries. While not as complicated as Valencia’s gargantuan debts, it is still sizeable.
Last year they were one of 23 clubs who had prize money frozen by UEFA under Financial Fair Play rules for failure to pay tax or transfer debts.
Atletico were said to owe over €100 million to the Spanish tax authorities last year with added interest payments of 4.5 per cent. But depending on who you believe, the club’s total debts could actually be anything as high as €300 million.
Last month, Spanish sports paper AS claimed that Atletico had to make a €50 million payment to the Spanish tax man based on expenses related to salaries and transfers.
Yet they still hope to move into a new stadium by 2015/16. No wonder they have sold a number of key players for large sums, (although they will not receive every penny in some of those deals): Falcao (€60 million), Sergio Aguero (€40 million) and De Gea (€20 million) among others.
While the likes of current top scorer Diego Costa continue to step up to the plate, Atletico are okay in the short-term. And regularly qualifying for the Champions League group stages and knockout-stages will help gnaw away at the debt.
But as most of us have seen with clubs that continually hemorrhage their best players, the quality level inevitably drops as time goes on.
One would hope that Atletico can avoid that eventuality but it will be challenging. At least it’s a situation to keep one’s eye on.
