Consistent semi final appearances or more in the CL
Winning La liga and then fighting for it every year.


Are they still a system team or a top 5 team?

Absolutely a top team. Been saying it all day

Clearly. Not the most talented and not very pretty to watch. They play "Mourinho" football with Simeone, who manages to not piss everyone off in the process. Tactically perfect team.

Not sure what a system team is but if it is what I think it is I'd say they are both a top team and a system team

Definitely

They've been an elite team for the past 3 years.

Barca, Bayern, Madrid, Atletico, and Juve are the heavyweights atm.

They are a top 5 team. They were unlucky to face Real on the quarters last year. I said it before the season started that they will make semis again unless they face Barca or Bayern on the quarters. They exceeded even that expectation.

Absolutely

There are three heavy weights of Europe Barca, Bayern and Real Madrid.

The teams in the next tier are Juventus, Atletico and PSG.

Atletico if they continue like this for another three years and winning one in the process then they'd be considered as heavy weights but not now. Now it's too soon to call them heavy weight.

Also it's a shame that no English team is featuring in these two tiers. Sign of how low the EPL has fallen in Europe.

They are punching above their weight, and have been for years. It remains to be seen if they maintain their status after Simione leaves

Still upper midcard imo.

They are probably the best team in the world at the moment, so yes. They've been top 5 for 2-3 years now. Barca, Bayern, Atletico, Juve and Madrid are the best 5 clubs

No one should dare call them underdogs

I've been saying all season they are a Top 5 team, and as such, yes

They have great defense.better than top teams. They win games thanks to their defense. and only tactic is the park the bus

They play their own style perfectly, and consistently perform.
Management
Team
Results

Definitely a heavyweight in my opinion and one of the smarter models in football in terms of transfers and playing philosophy. I dislike Simeone but he's done incredible things there

Easily have been up there since Simione took over.

Already has a league and Europa with Atletico.

Let's hope it's sustainable in the long run.

Valencia were once European heavyweights at one point...

farfan wrote:
Valencia were once European heavyweights at one point...

Once

you have different kinds of top teams, some that have all the stars and you can be sure that they'll outplay you, but others that are just so difficult to beat. atleti are in the latter, just tough as nails especially mentally, and that's down mainly to simeone. he knows they don't have the assets to please non-fans of theirs, but has concentrated on the defensive side of the game, which to me is just as important as offense. all this done without the ability to hoard talent and have the best players in all positions, the man deserves more props than other so called top managers with all the squad talent and financial backing from their clubs get damn it

farfan wrote:Let's hope it's sustainable in the long run.

Valencia were once European heavyweights at one point...

i think it will only be sustainable based on simeone staying or leaving. valencia got very irresponsible just like a lot of clubs in and around the league. atleti was poorly run until they got simeone, and he managed to do what they do on the pitch, i bet when he leaves it could get back to "business as usual"

Yes. Real, Atletico, Barca, Juventus, Bayern. Maybe they have had less success historically than the others, but they are top 5.

You're going to see a lot of new heavyweights in the EPL with all the money that's about to get injected there. Given that they now have the best managers too... in a couple of years, they will dominate Europe imo.

I don't think so. EPL already has about three times the income of La Liga, doesn't make much difference. There is a point of diminishing returns and the EPL is well past that point.