Atletico Madrid join elite group of six teams as Diego Simeone continues to prove value | OneFootball

There are many in Madrid who disagree with Rodrigo de Paul’s assessment that it has been a good season at Atletico Madrid, but they have qualified for the Champions League again. It continues Diego Simeone’s run of qualifying for Europe’s elite competition in every full season he has been in charge.

It’s a run that is in to its 12th year, and keeps Atletico in elite company, as one of six sides that have been there in all of those competitions. Barcelona and Real Madrid are ever-present, as are Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City say Marca.

All of those sides traditionally have a much larger budget than Atletico, as is illustrated by the competitions themselves. Between them, Bayern, PSG and City have been responsible for 15 of the last 18 league titles should Pep Guardiola’s side go on to win the Premier League this weekend. Atletico managed to crack the duopoly in 2021 in Spain for the second time in a decade, but Simeone’s ability to avoid falling out of the top four in a down year over that period is perhaps his second greatest achievement.