Atlético Madrid

Spain · one of the fourteen clubs in the Normal pool

Madrid's other club have spent most of their history in Real's shadow and have still won La Liga eleven times. They have reached three European Cup finals and lost all three — two of them to their neighbours.

The story in brief

The 1960s and 1970s: Aragonés

Atlético won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1962 against Fiorentina and four league titles between 1966 and 1977. Luis Aragonés was their great player of the era. In the 1974 European Cup final in Brussels his free kick put Atlético ahead against Bayern Munich in extra time, and they were seconds from winning when Georg Schwarzenbeck equalised; Bayern won the replay 4–0. Atlético still won the Intercontinental Cup that year, in place of Bayern, with Aragonés now as coach.

The 1980s and 1990s: Futre and the Double

Hugo Sánchez scored for Atlético before crossing the city to Real, and the Portuguese winger Paulo Futre arrived in 1987. The high point came in 1995–96, when Radomir Antić's side — Diego Simeone in midfield, Kiko and Milinko Pantić in attack — won the league and cup Double. Four years later Atlético were relegated, and spent two seasons in the second division.

The 2000s: Torres, Agüero and Forlán

Fernando Torres, an academy product and captain while still a teenager, carried the club after promotion until he left for Liverpool in 2007. Sergio Agüero and Diego Forlán then led Atlético to the 2010 Europa League, Forlán scoring both goals in the final against Fulham.

Since 2011: Simeone

Simeone returned as coach in December 2011 and turned the club into one of Europe's hardest teams to beat, built on goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and then Jan Oblak, the defender Diego Godín, the midfielder Koke and the forward Antoine Griezmann. Atlético won the Europa League in 2012 and 2018, the league in 2014 — clinched with a draw at Barcelona on the last day — and again in 2021 with Luis Suárez, and reached the Champions League final in 2014 and 2016, losing both to Real Madrid, the first after conceding an equaliser in stoppage time.

Atlético in Treble Winner

Atlético are the fourteenth and last club in the Normal pool, so they come up on Normal and Hard but never on Easy. On Normal they appear in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s; the Aragonés years of the 1960s and 1970s are Hard only.

Atletico Madrid in the game's pool, decade by decade.
Decade	Players	Best-XI rating	Rank	First on	Highest rated in the game
1960s	42	74.4	191	Hard	Joaquín Peiró, Adelardo Rodriguez, José Eulogio Gárate
1970s	42	76.0	95	Hard	Luis Aragonés, Jose Eulogio Garate, Miguel Reina
1980s	62	73.7	270	Normal	Hugo Sanchez, Rubén Cano, Manolo
1990s	113	74.8	152	Normal	Paulo Futre, Kiko Narvaez, Diego Simeone
2000s	157	76.1	94	Normal	Sergio Aguero, Fernando Torres, Diego Forlán
2010s	141	79.8	25	Normal	Jan Oblak, Antoine Griezmann, Diego Godin
2020s	63	73.9	244	Normal	Julian Alvarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Luis Suárez

The Simeone decade, the 2010s, stands well clear of the rest in the game's ratings, and it is the only Atlético cell that can live with the best of the bigger clubs. The 2000s and 1970s follow, level with each other. The 1980s and 2020s are the weakest.

Drafting tips

The 2010s for the goal. Oblak is in that cell, and he is one of the highest-rated goalkeepers in the game.
Torres is in three decades, the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, at Atlético alone — and in the Liverpool pool as well.
Re-spin away from the 1980s if you need quality; it is the thinnest Atlético cell on Normal.