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Can Atletico Madrid mount a serious challenge to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid?
August 14, 2013
By Tom Wilde
Year after year the story is much the same, Madrid or Barca? This has been the case since Rafa Benitez’ Valencia side won la Liga almost a decade ago. Since then the ‘big two’ have held a firm grip over the title in Spain. The Madrid-Barcelona hegemony is in little danger of being stopped, unfortunately, but last season Atletico ran the two powerhouses very close.
Ateltico’s brilliant season came was rewarded with a hugely impressive victory against city rivals Real, in the Copa Del Rey final. Atleti’s victory was their first against Real since 1999, and even came in Real’s own Bernabeu stadium.
Atletico’s evolution from inconsistent and often calamitous side into a sturdy, hard-working, well drilled unit has come under the guise of former player Diego Simeone. ‘Cholo’ as he is known singed a new long term deal last season and the current project over at the Calderon is looking very promising. The loss of last season’s top goalscorer, Radamel Falcao was quickly dealt with as the Rojiblancos brought in David Villa from Barcelona. Villa’s signing could prove to be quite a coup in the coming season. The former Valencia man had been out of favour at the Camp Nou since his unfortunate leg break in December 2011, and a being made first choice again could rekindle his brilliant goalscoring form.
The £50 million gained from the selling of Falcao has also been used to bring in Brazilian Leo Baptisao from Rayo Vallecano. The 20 year-old performed impressively last season and will also help to replace some of Falcao’s goals. Along with those two Ateltico have added Martin Demichelis from Malaga and 18 year old defender Jose Gimenez. Fortunately too for the club they haven’t had to sell any other key players. Front-man and general deviant Diego Costa has been linked with a move away from the Calderon recently but it looks likely that he’ll stay put. Perhaps most importantly they will have goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ services at their disposal for another season. Holding on to him and hopefully Diego Costa will be crucial for Atleti this season.
Atletico will be hoping that they can replicate some of last season’s for and solidify their status as a Champions League side. Realistically the best they can hope for in La Liga is a third place finish, the key will be keeping up with the other two for as long as possible. Given last season’s showings there is no reason why they should feel they can’t compete though.
Psychologically they are in better shape than in a long time. They even have the upper hand, off-field anyway, over Real for the first time in at least 14 years. They will want to rid themselves of the status of Real’s whipping boys by building last year’s cup final win. As cup winners they will also play in the Spanish Super Cup against league winners Barcelona, a two-legged affair in which they are definitely capable of winning.
Simeone has gone about his business very discreetly in the transfer market. David Villa looks like he could be a very good signing and the additions of Baptistao and the experienced Demichelis are very intelligent. They begin the new season with a tough trip to Sevilla where they will be looking to pick up where he left off and begin the season positively.
Season Prediction:
La Liga – 3rd place – 12 points behind 2nd
Champions League – Quarter finals
Copa Del Rey – Semi-finals
Super Cup – Winners (Bold prediction)
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参考译文:转贴自虎扑翻译团
马竞能否成为巴萨-皇马时代的搅局者?
巴萨,皇马,巴萨,皇马,这种年复一年同样的戏码,自10年前贝尼特斯带领瓦伦西亚问鼎西甲冠军之后就未曾停播过。从那时起,两大球会垄断了西甲桂冠。但现在两巨头的霸权受到了威胁,因为上赛季的马德里竞技差点就追上了他们的步伐。
马竞上赛季的耀眼战绩令人难忘,他们在国王杯决赛中击败了同城死敌。这是他们自1999年以来第一次击败皇马,而且还是在对方的主场伯纳乌。
西蒙尼一手将马竞从一支不太和-谐又麻烦不断的散兵团改造为一支坚韧、努力、站位井井有条的真队伍。去年他们用一纸长合同留下了西蒙尼,而目前看来他在卡尔德隆的改造工程一片光明。在失去了上赛季的头号得分手法尔考后,他们迅速的从巴萨手中买走了比利亚,而这笔交易极有可能影响下赛季的格局。这位前瓦伦西亚的射手曾因2011年12月的那次受伤而在诺坎普备受冷落,如果能再次成为首发的话,可能会重新激发他出色的进球状态。
另外,马竞还用出售法尔考的5000万英镑从巴列卡诺买来20岁的巴西前锋巴普蒂斯唐。这位20岁的巴西小将上赛季令人眼前一亮,他们寄望这位新援能一定程度上弥补法尔考出走留下的空缺。与此同时他们还签下了马拉加的德米凯利斯和年仅18岁的后卫吉梅内斯,而且值得庆幸的是俱乐部并没有卖出其他主力球员。此前有传闻说他们的皇牌上将科斯塔可能会出走卡尔德隆,但照目前形势来看他还是会留在这的。还有一个关键点是他们的门将库尔图瓦还能多租借一个赛季。留下他和科斯塔对新赛季的马竞来说至关重要。
马竞希望自己能延续上赛季的神勇表现以巩固其欧冠参赛资格。他们若想坐稳西甲的第三把交椅,关键还是要紧跟巴萨皇马的步伐。而鉴于上赛季表现他们做到这点应该问题还是不大的。
他们在心态上可能会比之前很长一段时间要好。他们因此甚至占据了上风,不管怎么说这毕竟是他们14年来首次战胜同城死敌。他们想要摆脱马德里二队的尴尬,想要重温上赛季国王杯决赛的美梦。而作为国王杯的冠军,他们将会在西班牙超级杯中挑战联赛冠军巴萨罗那,他们相信自己有能力在两回合交锋中胜出。
西蒙尼在转会市场上也表现的很谨慎,签约比利亚当属是他的得意之作,而购入巴普蒂斯唐和经验丰富的德米凯利斯也是个明智的选择。他们新赛季揭幕战将会是一场硬仗,要客场挑战塞维利亚,他们希望能取得一场开门红来开启新赛季的征程。
赛季预测:
西甲联赛:第三,落后第2名12分
欧冠:八强
西班牙国王杯:半决赛
超级杯:冠军(大胆预测)
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