Page 4 - Atletico Madrid
- January 06, 2016
What a difference half a year makes. Last May, as the sun set on the 2014/15 La Liga season, Atletico Madrid weren't even particularly close to defending the title they had won a year before. The Mattress Makers finished the 2014/15 campaign in a respectable third place. However, their point tally of 78 was so far from Real Madrid (92) and Barcelona (94), that Atletico was hardly even in the same league, quality-wise.
Fast-forward to the first week of the New Year, though, and Atletico Madrid are back in the driver's seat, their consistency putting them above the flashier soccer squads of both Barca and Real Madrid. The Mattress Makers did lose one of their festive period fixtures, falling 0-1 to Malaga just five days before Christmas. However, Atletico followed that match up with two consecutive shutout victories, beating Rayo Vallecano 2-0 on December 30th and topping Levante 1-0 on the second day of the New Year. - December 17, 2015
By Greg Lea.
In 2013/2014, Atletico de Madrid achieved one of the most astonishing feats of recent times by winning La Liga ahead of Barcelona and Real Madrid despite various financial and structural disadvantages. Two seasons on and many people are backing them to repeat the accomplishment.
With the winter break approaching, Diego Simeone's side have the chance to reach the summit of the standings before Christmas; currently in second place and level on points with Barcelona who are in Japan competing in the Club World Cup Atletico will move three clear at the top with victory over Malaga on Sunday night. It is a fantastic opportunity for the capital club, who will not mind the fact they have gone somewhat under the radar so far this campaign.
Atletico's extraordinary title success two years ago was built on a collective that amounted to more than the sum of its individual parts. Only - December 16, 2015
Competitive play won't resume in the 2015 2016 UEFA Champions League until well into the New Year, but already, fans are getting excited for the next stage of Europe's most prestigious club football tournament. On Monday, December 14th, the UEFA announced the draw for the Champions League 2016 round of 16, with the first leg matches to take place on February 16th, 17th, 23rd or 24th and second leg matches scheduled for early to mid-March. Let's take a look at the match-ups!
The Games to Watch
Probably the highest profile draw for the round of 16 is the match-up between Bayern Munich and Juventus. Bayern won five of their six group stage fixtures, only dropping one game (against Arsenal). Juventus, meanwhile, have struggled - December 15, 2015
After this coming weekend, the German Bundesliga will take more than a month off before resuming regular-season play. Luckily for fans of the Spanish La Liga, though, there will be plenty of action going on in the Primera Division throughout the holiday season. Consider this post your guide to the La Liga 2015 festive fixtures, from the games you should watch to what Spain's top teams will be hoping to accomplish with the holiday spirit (hopefully) on their side.
Week 16
Though far from the month-long break provided by the Bundesliga, the La Liga does take the better part of two weeks off for Christmas. As a result, you'll want to tune in this weekend to get your fill of Spanish league football action before you head off to spend time with family and friends for the holiday season.
There aren't any huge fixtures on the schedule for the first week of the festive period. Barcelona, who are still leading the - December 13, 2015
According to Spanish publication AS, a number of major European football clubs could soon face international transfer sanctions from FIFA. FC Barcelona, the reigning La Liga victories, will soon finish out a 14-month transfer ban of their own-a sanction handed down from FIFA after the club violated the rules for signing players under the age of 18. Evidently, though, FIFA believes other clubs have broken the same rules and is currently considering sanctions for Chelsea, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and other major European soccer clubs.
Delayed Action
So far, FIFA hasn't actually handed down any transfer sanctions. Mirror proposed two potential reasons - December 13, 2015
Any player that gets labeled the "Serbian Messi" deserves a lot of attention. It's not often that players are compared to the great Lionel Messi at all, let alone described as younger versions of him. Needless to say, a lot of people are keeping an eye on Andrija Zivkovic right now, wondering what might be next for the 19-year-old winger who has already been so impressive in his career.
As the youngest player to ever make an appearance with the Serbian national football team-and the youngest team captain ever for Serbian club FK Partizan-Zivkovic is a soccer wunderkind. He led Partizan to victory in the Serbian SuperLiga last season and has kept the club a factor in the 2015 2016 Europa League. Indeed, Zivkovic is one of the top scorers in the competition so far-a fact that has made him a transfer target for many football clubs throughout Europe. - December 07, 2015
When Barcelona played their first-leg match of the Copa del Rey round of 32, all the way back at the end of October, something odd happened: they settled for a dull, scoreless draw against third-tier football club, CF Villanovense. Rather than risk the injury of top talent like Luis Suarez and Neymar-particularly important given the then-ongoing absence of Lionel Messi-manager Luis Enrique chose to field a soccer squad of players who normally don't start. The result was a surprisingly poor showing for the reigning Copa del Rey champions and the recent treble victors.
Last week, when Barca returned to the pitch for their second leg against Villanovense-and when the rest of the round of 32 finally got underway-things looked quite a bit different for the soccer club. Enrique still left Neymar and Suarez on the bench (and Messi wasn't even on hand as a substitute), but it didn't matter. Playing at home on December 2nd, Barcelona demolished their third-tier challengers, winning - October 31, 2015
Last weekend saw some measure of order and normality returned to the Spanish La Liga. Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid are all back in the top-three, something that hasn't exactly been the norm this season. Real and Barcelona are leading the way, with 21 points apiece in the league standings. But Atletico Madrid are only two points back and seem to be finding their way after a somewhat disappointing campaign in 2014 2015, but where does Antoine Griezmann fit into the statistics?
Griezmann: One of the Brightest Talents in the La Liga
Atletico's not-so-secret weapon this season? Antoine Griezmann. The 24-year-old Frenchman joined the Mattress Makers last season on transfer from Real Sociedad. And while Atletico couldn't keep pace with Barcelona or Real Madrid in terms of wins or goals, Griezmann at least was firing on all cylinders.
Indeed, despite starting his career as a midfielder and not a forward, - October 06, 2015
La Liga is one of the most exciting football leagues in Europe at the moment, but what happened at the
first Madrid derby 2015 - 2016, was the outcome as expected? By all accounts, Real Madrid should be dominating the Spanish La Liga right now. After all, FC Barcelona are in crisis. Lionel Messi is out for two months, and an ongoing FIFA transfer ban has left the team in crisis. And even though Barca still have Neymar and Luis Suarez, they've shown weakness with a handful of losses in recent weeks. Add the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have both been playing great football this season, and the Vikings should be as far ahead in the La Liga as Bayern Munich are in the Bundesliga.
Somehow, - September 22, 2015
Both Atletico Madrid and Benfica disappointed at last year's UEFA Champions League. Atletico, fresh off a runner-up finish in 2013 2014, bowed out of the tournament in the quarterfinals, losing to the same team that had beaten them to the title the year before. Benfica, meanwhile, finished at the bottom of their group, only managing two goals and one win out of their six matches. In light of those disappointing outcomes, fans of both football clubs had plenty to be happy about on Tuesday, September 15th. That day marked the start of the Champions League 2015 - 2016 Group C, and both Atletico Madrid and Benfica had strong starts.
Year-to-Date Improvements
Last fall, both teams kicked off the UCL on the completely wrong foot. Atletico Madrid lost 3-2 in an away
match against Greece's Olympiacos-easily one of the most surprising events of the competition. The Mattress Makers would go undefeated for the rest of
