Man if there's one side i've been really impressed of,its Atletico Madrid.They have quality in all departments perhaps a bit short on depth but what do you guys reckon about Atleti's realistic targets this season ?

They can be considered a dark horse for the CL perhaps ? And what about the league ? Can they finish above Real Madrid this season ?

CL, Last 16
La Liga, 3rd

CL quarters and La Liga 3rd.

La liga 2nd

Champions league Semis.

La Liga, 3rd

Champions League, Round of 16

They wont be able to handle both competitions for a title run. They will settle for 3rd in the league and probably make a deep run in CL. Probably semi's.

Champions League depends on who they get in the draw. If they get Olympiacos, for instance, then they'll reach the Quarters.

Ask me in December.  

La Liga 3rd.

Champions League Quarter Finals.

La Liga, 3rd
Champions League, 1/8 round

La Liga 3rd

La liga 2nd or 3rd
CL Quarter-Finals
Copa del Rey final

Don't get me wrong, Atlético have been doing the impossible pretty easily so far but they'll run out of steam soon. As a team highly reliant on physical condition who play high intensity for long periods of matches (typical of Simeone's personality), they have already peaked early in the season while most 'big' teams plan to hit top physical form around January and onwards. Their lack of squad depth will intensify the situation later on in the season, and being in two competition only makes things worse. It is a shame, but it is also the truth.

Liga: 3rd. Not enough depth, they'll start to lose points as Madrid will start to improve and bag points ahead of them.

Champions League: 1st knock out stage (unless they top their group and meet a scrub team).

LOL at people talking about Atletico will run out of steam, they have a short bench, they can't handle 2 competitions at once etc etc

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't Atletico won a bunch of trophies in the last couple years and easily competed on three fronts in the league, the Copa Del Rey and the Europa league consistently?

Since 2010 they have won the Europa League twice, the super cup twice, and the Copa Del Rey. That is more than Man City and Arsenal but you don't hear any of these excuses about those teams.

If it was some other team or a team from the EPL who had been as successful as Atletico over the past couple years you wouldn't hear any of this nonsense about them not being able to compete on multiple fronts, not being deep enough, and all the other common "facts" you hear about Atletico or any other Spanish team that isn't Barca or Madrid. Just because there players don't play in the EPL doesn't mean they don't have a decent bench.

We have heard over and over again how they can't replace there strikers or other positions and they do every year without fail because they are not the same Atletico anymore. They have depth and a great scouting department plus there lucky to play in Spain and reap the benefits of the talent that is pouring out of the country.

People better wake up. This team played Barca to a stand still over two legs, have beaten Madrid the last 2 times they have played once with a trophy on the line are undefeated in La Liga and in the Champions League playing 2 decent sides in Porto and Zenit.

I don't mean to write an essay but it's so tiring hearing the same old crap about Atletico when this team has shattered all those notions and has won more trophies than most of the teams in Europe over the past couple years. This is a different team.

With that being said I will say they win the Copa Del Rey, 2nd in La Liga and Semi's or better in the CL.

They will finish 2nd to Barca in all competitions

2-0 up against Celta.

20-0 in shots as well btw  

They just get better & better!

2-1. 73' Diego Costa (2 goals), Nolito (1 goal)

They will win the league  

It would be wonderful, but only a temporary change in Spain.

The team will be bought, Simeone will leave. And they would return to mediocrity. Money talks & Atletico dont have much unfortunately.

Dnmac4 wrote:LOL at people talking about Atletico will run out of steam, they have a short bench, they can't handle 2 competitions at once etc etc

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't Atletico won a bunch of trophies in the last couple years and easily competed on three fronts in the league, the Copa Del Rey and the Europa league consistently?

True - i should point out they've also won more than Real in the past 2 years

But the point remains, they lack the depth of Barca/Real and play such a physically demanding game that they will slowly fall back to the pack. Just look at their performances last season - correct me if i'm wrong, they were within 2-3 games of Barca pre XMas and ended up 24 pts adrift. Crunching the numbers, they averaged 2.35 pts / match pre-XMas and 1.71 pts / match post-XMas. Rotating their CM more this season should help a little but until they have quality backups for the rest of their squad i see a repeat of last season.

Anyway, i'm going with the rest of the crowd: 3rd La Liga, 1/8s in CL.

Top of the table

D.P. Simeone  

Monster of a team. Tireless, balanced, intelligent and confident.

This team is a monster.

Not only are they effective at what they do but it's a team that players hate playing against with there physical nature and quite frankly they have the capacity to embarrass you too.

No team wants to draw Atletico in the next round of the CL. What a two horse league.

Dnmac4 wrote:This team is a monster.

Not only are they effective at what they do but it's a team that players hate playing against with there physical nature and quite frankly they have the capacity to embarrass you too.

No team wants to draw Atletico in the next round of the CL.  What a two horse league.

Pipe down Dmad. Seriously do u have to rant every time?

jibers wrote:

Dnmac4 wrote:This team is a monster.

Not only are they effective at what they do but it's a team that players hate playing against with there physical nature and quite frankly they have the capacity to embarrass you too.

No team wants to draw Atletico in the next round of the CL.  What a two horse league.

Pipe down Dmad. Seriously do u have to rant every time?

LOL, coming from you that is hilarious. A guy who has 3 times the amount of posts than I do commenting on me posting too much. Can you say full retard.

Can't see what it the world I am mad about, obviously there is something about this Atletico team that upsets you. This is a thread about Atletico, and we are talking about Atletico.

In fact, you're really the only one that isn't commenting on Atletico. Seriously, is it your time of the month?