Atletico Madrid - Most popular for December 2007
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I'm pretty bored, so I thought I'd throw my irrelevant two cents into the mix. Here's who I think
were the world's best XI in 2007. Feel free to flog me, I know nothing, of course.
GK - Petr Čech
Casillas, Reina, and Buffon are all incredible, but some of the saves Čech makes are just plain
silly.
Reminder: The game is on 5-December at 20.45pm. A victory in this game would seal our place in the
last 32. The chosen 18 have been selected: Falcón; Antonio López; Pernía; Motta; Cléber;
Forlán; Raúl García; Luis Garcíal Agüero; Maxi; Eller; Abbiati; Reyes; Maniche; Mista; Perea;
Pablo; Simão.
The best is yet to come! He's come a long way since his first season at the club, hm? Youth,
talent, quality, goals, vision, skill... Congratulations to him- thoroughly deserved award.
Previous winners: Fabregas (2006), Messi (2005), Rooney (2004), van der Vaart (2003). Be back
tomorrow afternoon (NY time) with an Atleti v Getafe entry.
Atleti collect an important 3 points after another bizarre night at el Vicente Calderón. The
victory lifts los colchoneros to #3 with 30 points only 5 points away from league leaders, Re*l
M*drid. A quick description: A truly bizarre, ugly derby with a card-happy ref (18 in total!). What
more is there to say?
So, it begins...the third competition on our 'must-win' agenda. First things first: STARTING 11:
Falcón; Valera, Pablo, Zé Castro, Antonio López; Raúl García, Cléber, Luis García, Simão;
Mista and Forlán. SUBS: Abbiati, Miguel, Perea, Álex Quillo, Ignacio Camacho. Agüero, Maxi,
Maniche, Eller & Pernía are being rested.
It wasn't the greatest game in that we did not establish a comfortable lead, but we won and had an
opportunity to allow Miguel & the canteranos some playing time. Here's the main info: Falcón;
Valera, Pablo, Zé Castro, Antonio López; Raúl García (Álex Quillo 85′), Cléber, Luis
García, Simão (Ignacio Camacho 57′); Mista and Forlán (Miguel [.
Los Colchoneros celebrate the win that sends them to the top of Group B. TACTICS: Abbiati; Perea,
Zé Castro (Reyes 60′), Eller, Antonio López; Raúl García, Cléber (Simao 46′), Luis
García, Maxi; Forlán and Kun Agüero (Pablo 90+5). GOLS 33′ Salpingidis 73′ Luis García
(tremendous bit of skill by Kun & Reyes) 90+3′ Simao (GOLAZO free-kick) It wasn't the greatest
game, [.
Let's take a brief look back. "My heart will always be rojiblanco." You can't talk about
2007 without mentioning the departure of El Niño, the symbol of Atlético since the club's return
to the top flight in '02. Unfortunately, his final season with the club ended on a disastrous note:
we failed to secure a UEFA spot & had [.
Take a look at this article that came out today on ESPNsoccernet about Manchester City striker
Rolando Bianchi:
ROME, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Italian striker Rolando Bianchi aims to reach double figures at
Manchester City this season but does not plan staying in the Premier League in the long
term.
Two goal-scorers, Forlán & Raul. Crucial win lifts Los Colchoneros to Champions. Thoroughly
deserved victory. It was a game that we dominated from start to finish, although the 2nd half was
brutal. And by 'brutal' I mean downright ugly. In other words, we invited unnecessary pressure on
ourselves.
Atleti reach the final 32 of the UEFA CUP. Abbiati; Antonio López; Pablo; Eller, Pernia; Simão
(Maxi 67′); Motta; Cleber (Maniche 73′); Luis; Agüero; Forlán (Raúl García 72′). UNUSED
SUBS: Falcón; Reyes; Mista; Perea The good news is that Perea, recovered from his injury, but
still not quite ready to start, was able to sit this one out.
Current Midfielders: Maxi Maniche Jurado (injured) Raúl Luis Cléber Reyes Simão Motta Miguel
(hasn't played in a little over a year). With Motta back and playing some superb football, it's
going to be difficult for Aguirre to continue benching him. Simão continues to prove that he's
worthy of a starting 11 spot as well.
The other Madrileño derby! For those of us in the USA, it will be live on GolTV. STARTING 11:
Abbiati, Eller, Perea, Pernía, Maniche, Raúl García, Simao, Maxi, Agüero & Forlán. Will
Aguirre choose Antonio López or Valera as right-back? We'll have to wait & see. At this very
moment, he's unsure.
Motta will be unavailable. Again. This time for approximately 10 days. If he doesn't make a
dramatic recovery (which is likely...), he should just retire from playing football. Don't get me
wrong, when he's fit, he's absolute quality. The problem is that he is more injured than fit. I can
count on one hand how many [.
Los Colchoneros drop points at home after having two players sent off. Another strange night at el
Vicente Calderón. I don't know how to break it down, so I'll just write up an overview with some
thoughts. Firstly, Abbiati had a very good game & kept us alive for as long as he could. Forlán's
presence in the [.
The game will be live on GolTV, which means that it should be available on livefooty or
Rojadirecta. CHOSEN 18: Antonio López; Pernía; Motta; Cléber; Forlán; Raúl García; Luis
García; Agüero; Maxi; Eller; Abbiati; Zé Castro; Reyes; Maniche; Mista; Pablo; Simão; Leo
Franco. BRIEF GAME SUMMARY Betis have had a disastrous start to their campaign (HA HA!
Two more days (the 20th) until our final UEFA game, home to Panathinaikos. A win will mean
finishing #1. Today, Antonio López rejoined the team after taking time off to mourn the recent
death of his sister. Best wishes to him & his family. Agüero was back from his trip to the FIFA
World Player Gala, where [.
Another must-win! (Then again, aren't all games must-wins?) Bizarrely enough (or, maybe not), I
vividly remember Atleti's games with Recre last season. It was in the home game that Agüero
punched in his infamous game winner. Later on in the season, during the away game, Recreativistas
wore gloves & taunted Agüero throughout the entire 90.
Atleti maintain a Champions spot, but miss a golden opportunity to distance themselves from #4
Villarreal. TACTICS: Abbiati; Perea, Pablo, Eller, Pernía; Maxi, Raúl García, Cléber, Simão
(Reyes 66'); Forlán and Kun Agüero (Luis García 66') Simply put, this was the game of two
goal-keepers. Both Italians, Sorrentino & Abbiati, gave solid performances.
Reminder: It's tomorrow, Thursday. The final group stage fixture. UEFA's article on the game is
informative, as always. STARTING 11 (confirmed on the official website): Abbiati; Perea, Zé
Castro, Eller, Antonio López; Raúl García, Cléber Santana, Luis García, Maxi; Forlán and Kun
Agüero. Honestly, there's no reason why we shouldn't win Panathinaikos.
Not bad at all! We meet Gary Megson's Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on Wednesday 13th or Thursday
14th February 2008, with the return leg at el Vicente Calderón the following week on the 21st.
Jesús García Pitarch's thoughts on the draw: "They weren't our preferred opponent and, as such,
we do not like Bolton.
So, most sports papers are focusing El Clásico (Real visit Barcelona) and I can't blame them. It's
an incredibly tight table at the moment, so both clubs want the 3 points, not to mention bragging
rights. I'll definitely be watching it as the result affects Atleti's climb to the top. Now, having
said that, Atleti's game [.
Good Day Espanyol With all the fuss and bother of one Barcelona v Madrid derby buzzing in the ear,
it was easy to overlook Espanyol's well deserved win against an entertainingly imploding Atletico
Madrid at the Vicente Calderon - the Disneyland of football. Although they were taking on a side
down to nine men, Espanyol looked dominant even when Atletico had their full contingent out on
field.
I read this much earlier today, but it's worth writing about, even if only briefly because I assume
everyone knows by now anyway: The club have increased Agüero's release clause to €55 million.
He's been in a bit of a funky patch recently, but that still doesn't take away from the quality
striker that he has [.
Back to work for Los Colchoneros! The squad including Maniche had a light training session today
(Sunday) after a week off for the Christmas holiday. 150 supporters showed up to see the team in
action. Leo Franco & Maxi didn't participate due to injury. Maxi's knee injury seems minor, he
should be fully fit in time for our [.
