Can Atletico’s Academy Graduates Shine in the Champions League Final?
It’s the new focus of professional soccer teams around the world — breeding homegrown players to become the superstars of the future. Here’s a look the home grown players from Atlético, a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, that plays in La Liga — that recently played in the Champions League Final against powerhouse Real Madrid.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico have been applauded this season for their sheer resilience in the face of adversity. Without the endless fountain of money that is afforded to their city rivals, the Argentine manager has become somewhat of a master in the art of bringing youngsters through the ranks at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.
Having to sell their best talent hasn’t stopped Atletico from becoming a European powerhouse. Unfortunately in the past couple of seasons, Simeone has had to bid farewell to Thibaut Courtois, Jackson Martinez, Mario Mandzukic, Toby Alderweireld and Arda Turan, who’ve all gone to be a success at their new clubs barring Turan whose career has somewhat stuttered at Barcelona. Point being, Simeone has been able to bring adequate replacements in that have flourished under his guidance.
The Argentine tactician has been courted by some of Europe’s big clubs during his tenure with Atletico. Although, he has shown unwavering love for the Madrid club amid reports of him possibly leaving – often quashing rumors quickly in the press.
Many experts feel that Simeone is now facing a crossroads in his career with Atletico. With many of the high profile managerial positions being taken up in the English Premier League, Simeone’s options are limited if he were to contemplate leaving Madrid. The Bleacher Report even suggested he could leave if he managed to guide his team to European glory.
Though, Atletico’s fans hope the pragmatic Argentine remains in the hotseat and continues to blood Atletico’s youngsters – bringing through the next generation of superstars. In the final, there was a potential of four academy graduates that could have started for Los Colchoneros. And Simeone has never been short of confidence when it comes to entrusting a young player with an opportunity.
Sports news site Bwin published an infographic showing the four academy graduates and how they felt Atletico would line up. The four graduates included veteran striker Fernando Torres who is in his second stint with the club, Gabi, Koke and the in-demand defensive midfielder Saul Niguez.
While Atletico have a considerable amount of academy graduates, Real Madrid on the other hand had only one, in the form of right back Dani Carvajal. Zinedine Zidane’s team is littered with experienced internationals and expensive transfers approved by the free-spending president Florentino Perez.
The average number of starting graduates according to the above infographic is 3.0 in previous finals, which means Atletico is well above said figure, and it’s a testament to how effective their youth ranks have been over the last decade. But it doesn’t look like Atletico’s conveyor belt of fledgling stars will stop with the four that were set to be included in the staring XI for the Champions League Final. Additionally, Outside of the Boot points to Oliver Torres as the next star-in-the-making at the Vicente Calderon. Although he was unlikely to start, he will be a valuable asset to the Madrid club in the coming years.
It’s rare nowadays to see clubs with home-grown talent as such a focal point of a team. Ingrained in Gabi, Koke, Saul Niguez and Torres are the Atletico philosophies that they’ve grown up with and were instilled at an early age.
NOTES AFTER THE GAME FROM UEFA:
Antoine Griezmann, whose own missed penalty was “such a shame”, believes Atlético Madrid will “learn and come back stronger” despite the pain of defeat in Milan.
After the match – Gabi, Atlético, captain said “We should be proud of this team. Starting tomorrow, we have to keep working. This is what is bittersweet about football. The important thing is to be in contention – I’m convinced that this team is going to come back and win a Champions League because it deserves it.”
Saúl Ñíguez, Atlético midfielder said, “I’m proud of my team, of the fans, and I’m proud of being part of Atlético Madrid. We gave our all and it’s something that happens in football. Madrid won the match because the luck of penalties was on their side.
They were better in the first 15 minutes but after that we matched them and we were the better team in the second half. We wanted to win the game and we had the Griezmann penalty. It was a match with a lot of intensity and the truth is that at the end we were all dead on our feet.
We’re hurting. This squad doesn’t deserve for this to happen twice. It’s very hard to have it happen once, so to have it a second time … But I’m sure we will be back and we will continue working because we can do better. At Atlético Madrid we never stop believing, working and fighting for what we want until we get it.”
More from Guille Honrubia & Andrew Hallam report from Stadio San Siro visit UEFA NEWS
