How often do miracles come about? Once in a lifetime, when everything just falls into place. The stars align and it seems like the universe is working with you instead of against you. Having worked and played in a league where Barcelona and Real Madrid habitually share top honours, it was more than pleasing for La Liga and Atletico Madrid fans alike to see a new team get involved in the race to the top
The loss of Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Thibaut Courtois might leave most teams reeling for years to come, but if it's possible, Atletico Madrid are even stronger than they were a year ago. The acquisitions of Mario Mandzukic, Antoine Griezmann, Raul Jimenez, Jan Oblak, Guilherme Siqueira and Angel Correa and the fact that they held onto players like Koke, Arda Turan, Miranda, Diego Godin and Juanfran mean Los Rojiblancos have kept the core of a team that wants to progress again in 2014/15.
Signings and Style
While the funds raised from their high profile departures come new players with points to prove and a chance to showcase their talent in the Champions League for a highly respected Coach in Diego Simeone.
Mario Mandzukic is keen to prove a point after an unceremonious departure from Bayern Munich, Angel Correa, while out for six months with a heart condition, has been referred to as the new Sergio Aguero, Antoine Griezmann has buckets of technical ability with a view of furthering his development on the biggest stage in one of the top leagues and in a system that will suit him. Jan Oblak comes to the Vicente Calderon as a highly-touted young goalkeeper to replace the irreplaceable Thibaut Courtois, but he is also deputised by Miguel Angel Moya and Luis Filipe is replaced by Guilherme Siqueira. Many of the players brought in might not be household names but it has to be noted that neither were Diego Costa ad the like before Simeone got his hands on them.
With the signings of such players came talk of a new system being put in place by Cholo Simeone but having watched several of their preseason games, it is clear that the Argentinian Coach will remain true to his 4-4-2 defensive approach. Simeone is not a believer in rotating his squad, preferring it to a fixed eleven who play with their hearts on their sleeves in quite a rigid, hard-working style.
The Big Two
The fact that Real Madrid have strengthened in key areas with players of world class ability, and Barcelona have also brought in the likes of Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic to compliment Neymar and Lionel Messi means that competition in La Liga will be fierce. There will be a period of adjustment for Barcelona with Suarez missing until October and their defense and goalkeeping situation slightly up in the air at the moment. Real Madrid look very solid and, as always, star-studded with the acquisitions of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez, to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, but if Atletico can find their feet early in the year, they might just challenge the top two again.
Repeating history?
While repeating their heroics of 2013-14, at this point, looks as good as impossible, it still remains to be seen just how Barcelona respond to their new signings and Coach. Anything can happen in a local derby and Atletico are all too aware of how to unsettle Real Madrid. Reaching the Champions League final was quite an outstanding achievement for Simeone and his squad, but winning La Liga was even more remarkable when you look at their squad in comparison to the competition's. The underdog tag suits los Rojiblancos and while that tag might be reduced significantly after last year, it is still clear that they will be playing as such when the season commences at the end of August.