When Diego Simeone arrived at Atletico Madrid in December 2011, the Vicente Calderon side were languishing in 11th place in La Liga and closer to a relegation fight than challenging for silverware. Fast-forward three-and-a-half years and Atletico are a force to be reckoned with once more in Spain. Simeone has guided his team to five trophies during his reign so far, including the Liga title in 2013-14, while also making it to the Champions League final that season.
A major challenge awaits the capital club once again, though.
The team that beat competition from Barcelona and Real Madrid to win their first league title in 18 years has been largely disbanded. Thibaut Courtois, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis all left for Chelsea in the summer of 2014, Miranda has joined Inter this summer, while Arda Turan has made the move to Barcelona. Other notable departures over the past 12 months include David Villa, Mario Mandzukic, Diego Ribas and Adrian. In short, the Atleti that nearly conquered Europe in 2013-14 are no more.
For Simeone, though, that mass exodus is no reason to despair. Rather than mourn the exit of his star performers, the fiery Argentine has taken the opportunity to rebuild his squad – and he has done so in remarkable fashion.
There's no denying that Courtois and Diego Costa are great players who played a major role in Atletico's successes, but they were not the figureheads the club's fans identified with. Indeed, men like Diego Godin, Juanfran, Gabi, Koke, Tiago, Mario Suarez and Raul Garcia are the men in charge in the dressing room. They remain the core of Simeone’s system and the team - and he has made a number of shrewd signings over the years to add to his squad and make sure his side remains competitive in the long term.
After a difficult start at Atleti last term, Slovenia international Jan Oblak has developed into a reliable option between the sticks and he still has plenty of room for improvement.
Furthermore, Uruguayan youngster Jose Gimenez – who was already brought in in 2013 – is one of the best young defenders around in the game and will form a solid partnership with his compatriot Godin at the back, while right-back Javier Manquillo has returned from his loan at Liverpool to provide back-up for Juanfran.
In midfield, Simeone has plenty of options, with usual suspects Tiago, Gabi and Suarez as well as promising youngster Saul Niguez all more than capable of providing cover in front of defence.
Further up the pitch, the gifted Koke is his side’s main source of inspiration, with Raul Garcia and Oliver Torres – who has returned from his loan spell with Porto – adding plenty of creativity to the Atletico roster, too.
"Oliver is a very important player for Atletico. He has grown a lot as a player. He left to gain first-team experience and will be vital for us in the new season," captain Gabi commented on the gifted youngster.
Indeed, the 20-year-old was one of Porto's undisputed stars after the winter break and he has all the characteristics to make the fans forget about Arda Turan in a heartbeat. The Turkey international might have created 32 chances in 2345 minutes during the 2014-15 campaign, but that was nowhere near La Liga's best Lionel Messi's number of 89. To put Arda's figure in perspective, Torres created 36 chances for Porto last season and needed only 1989 minutes to do so.
The Rojiblancos’ frontline is completely unrecognisable from the one of that successful 2013-14 campaign, but boasts plenty of quality nonetheless. Antoine Griezmann showed last season that he is one of the best attackers around in Spain, while €35 million Jackson Martinez will be replacing Mandzukic. Additionally, Argentine wonderkid Luciano Vietto has been brought in from Villarreal to add some much needed depth after a sound season at Villarreal, Angel Correa is raring to go after a health scare and Fernando Torres cannot be written off just yet either.
Martinez might have come at a price, but the Colombia international is a proven goalscorer, much like his predecessors Mandzukic and Diego Costa were. The 28-year-old netted 21 league goals last term, after previously finding the net 20 times and on 26 occasions in 2013-14 and 2012-13, respectively.
The 21-year-old Vietto will quite possibly have to settle for a substitute role early on in his career due to the stiff competition for places, but his fine performances for the Yellow Submarine last term suggest the Argentine has a bright future ahead of him.
"I think that Luciano demonstrated in the past season what a great player he is and I’m sure that he is going to contribute a lot," added Gabi about new signing Vietto.
That’s not to say Atletico Madrid are a certainty to challenge Barca and Madrid for the title again in the new season. Atleti fans will be more than aware that the 2013-14 wonder-season was the exception rather than the rule for the Calderon side. Beating Barca and Madrid to domestic glory a little over a year ago was arguably one of the highlights in the club’s existence and it's tough to see them ever repeating that, let alone matching it.
"This club and squad have always had the strength to reinvent itself again season after season," said Gabi.
"We have lost key players again, but those who have joined us are capable of doing well. We hope to compete this year as we have been doing last season."
Silverware will not be a regular expectation or reachable goal for Atletico in the coming years. Challenging clubs like Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal for the Champions League places and ensuring the gap between them and the top two doesn't widen will be their objective for the 2015-16 season and beyond.
There’s no denying that their rejuvenated squad is very much capable of doing just that.
And Simeone’s intelligent rebuilding project is right at the heart of it. Goal reports.
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