Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. He currently plays in Japan for Cerezo Osaka. Forlan’s column is written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.
Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid is a different beast to the team I played for.
The first thing he did when he arrived, soon after I’d left the club in 2011, was fix the defence. He said he wanted to see an “aggressive, strong, combative and determined team”, and his impact was immediate, with six clean sheets in his first six games. They had not managed one in the nine games before he took over.
When I played for Atletico, the team had an attacking mentality.
Myself and Sergio Aguero, with support from Jose Reyes and Simao, were all expected to get goals, and we did. I got 35 in 2009 and 28 a year later. Aguero scored over 20 both years, too. In one game we had scored four past Barcelona, but conceded three.
Simeone changed that.
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Defence is vital to his teams as we saw against Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday night.
Atletico defend with such confidence, even against a team like Madrid. It wasn’t a surprise: Atletico haven’t conceded a goal at home in Europe this season. They have had seven clean sheets in nine European games. In the Primera Liga, they have 15 clean sheets this season, more than Madrid, whose defence cost a lot more to assemble.
Atletico have five clean sheets in their past six games in all competitions. It takes something special to break them down, but Madrid, with all those great players, couldn’t manage it. When I was there we couldn’t beat Madrid. It drove us crazy. It was like they had a psychological advantage over us. We’d play well, we’d go in front, but we wouldn’t win.
Now it’s the other way around.
Atletico broke the spell by winning the Copa del Rey, at the Bernabeu, in 2013. Once they did that they felt they could do anything – and they did. They were Spanish champions and European Cup finalists last season. That would have been unimaginable for the Atletico I played for, but even we were a big improvement on the previous teams, who hadn’t won anything.
Atletico hadn’t won a single trophy between 1996 and our Europa League win in 2010. In the preceding five years, they have won seven trophies.
It’s better still for their passionate and noisy fans. The teams have met seven times this season and Madrid haven’t won once. They were so dominant in the first half of the Champions League game on Tuesday, but the ball would not go in.
It will be hard for Atletico on the bigger Bernabeu pitch, and I’d expect them to defend again. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they counter-attacked, scored and went through. But then let’s not get carried away.
This is Real Madrid we’re talking about, the champions of Europe, playing at home with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema up front, and brilliant players behind them. It’s to Atletico’s credit that it’s the tightest of all the four Champions League last-eight matches.
I know a lot of the Atletico players and know how much they are loving life there. Most have played together for a long time; they have that stability and confidence which comes from respecting the ability of your teammates. They have won trophies, the team has several Madrid-born players and they are living in a wonderful city.
It’s better to be playing all the time at Atletico than being on the bench at a bigger club. Simeone has got all the ingredients right and even when he goes for new signings, he goes for the less obvious ones.
Look at goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who was man of the match on Tuesday, and Antoine Griezmann, their top scorer. Atletico signed both last summer under the noses of other teams.
Simeone’s success has changed the club. Now they can spend €100 million (Dh395m) in the summer on players such as Oblak, Mario Mandzukic and Greizmann, but the core remains. The defence is the same.
In midfield, Thiago Mendes, Mario Suarez and Gabi are consistent. They don’t have bad games. That’s another key.
Koke is a great lad who came through from the youth team while I was there. He was shy, respectful and we got on well. I could see that he was very talented from his first training sessions with us. He had good feet and knew where to play the ball. He is doing well with Atletico and Spain, I’m pleased for him.
Koke’s very effective at free kicks and most of Atleti’s goals come from set pieces, another trait of the team.
Right-back Juanfran never stops running, and crosses well. He’s funny and adds to team spirit; Thiago’s a nice guy, too.
It’s a team without big egos.
My compatriot, Jose Maria Gimenez, is 20 and already plays like an experienced defender. He’s going to be a great player and like the other Atletico defenders, he’s always calm.
I’m looking forward to that game in Madrid next week.
Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. He currently plays in Japan for Cerezo Osaka. Forlan’s column is written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.
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