La Liga: Atletico ready for the race
(Baonghean.vn) - It is not the reigning champion Barcelona or the rich Real Madrid, but Atletico, the La Liga runner-up, who is the powerhouse of Spanish football. Coach Diego Simeone has been quietly preparing to overthrow the two giants of European football by keeping the stars and buying quality new players.
Seize the opportunity
Up to this point, the Catalan giant has only had one deal to steal from AS Roma, buying striker Malcom from Bordeaux for more than 40 million euros. After the conductor Iniesta left the club to play in Japan, Barcelona had to rely on the talents of superstar Messi and striker Suarez.
Whether Messi can recover from his disappointing performance at the 2018 World Cup in Russia remains a big question, and their 14-point gap with Atletico will be difficult to repeat with midfielder Paulinho also returning to his former club Guangzhou Evergrande on a year-long loan deal.
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| Atletico are the top contenders in La Liga. Photo: CNN |
City rivals Real are having a huge change after saying goodbye to two veterans, coach Zidane and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Sitting in the head coach's chair is Mr. Lopetegui, with a tight purse policy, until now this team has not bought any star worthy of replacing Ronaldo.
Losing a star who scored around 50 goals/season on all fronts will cause Mr. Lopetegui a lot of difficulties. Especially after the disappointing performance of the BBV trio (Bale - Benzema - Vinicius) in the 1-2 loss to MU in the ICC Cup friendly tournament.
Additional goods
Atletico's biggest success was successfully keeping striker Antoine Griezmann, a star that both Barcelona and Real, along with many other clubs, tried to court all summer.
In addition, they also bought talented midfielder Thomas Lemar (France, 22 years old from Monaco) for 60 million euros and Portuguese player, Gelson Martins from Sporting. Not to mention, coach Diego Simeone has 2 great strikers Diego Costa, Kevin Gameiro. Behind these strikers are creative attacking midfielders such as Saul Niguez, Angel Corea and Koke.
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| Coach Diego Simeone is determined to renew the attack. Photo: CNN |
Interestingly, coach Diego Simeone is also negotiating to buy his own son, Giovanni Simeone, from Fiorentina (Italy). Young striker Giovanni is currently considered a very promising striker, having scored 14 goals in 40 matches for Fiorentina in Serie A last season.
It is understandable why coach Diego Simeone mainly focuses on perfecting the attack, because last year the team's defense only conceded 22 goals, the fewest in La Liga.
Atletico's famous defense with names like goalkeeper Jan Oblak (worth up to 100 million euros on the current transfer market) or tough central defenders like Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez are rated higher than the two rivals competing for the La Liga championship.
Coach Diego Simeone is making long-term preparations for Atletico in both La Liga and Europe. In fact, Atletico and PSG's attack is currently considered the strongest in Europe. Atletico is seizing the opportunity of the changes of the two rivals Barcelona and Real to find a way to overthrow their dominance.
Looking at Atletico's deep squad, which includes many young players with potential, one can see that coach Diego Simeone is not only looking forward to the next 1 or 2 seasons but is preparing to build a new La Liga era with Atletico's dominance.
