Atlético Madrid

These founders saw the new club as a youth branch of their childhood team, Athletic Bilbao[9] who they had just seen win the 1903 Copa del Rey Final in the city.The Spanish Civil War gave Los Colchoneros a reprieve, as Real Oviedo was unable to play due to the destruction of their stadium during the bombings.[19] They had been promised a place in the Primera División for the 1939–40 season, only to be denied by the RFEF, and since they did not want to go through the whole divisional climb up, this club merged with Athletic, whose squad had lost eight players during the Civil War, including the team's star, Monchín Triana, who was shot dead.With the departure of Herrera in 1953, the club began to slip behind Real Madrid and Barcelona and for the remainder of the 1950s were left to battle it out with Athletic Bilbao for the title of third team in Spain.Inspired by Brazilian centre-forward Vavá and Enrique Collar, Atlético reached the semi-finals after beating Drumcondra, CSKA Sofia and Schalke 04.In 1966, Atlético left the Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid (which was demolished and was replaced with university buildings and an office block belonging to the company ENUSA) and moved to a new home in the Manzanares river waterfront, the Vicente Calderón Stadium, which was inaugurated on 2 October 1966 with a fixture against Valencia.[30] Significant players from this era included the now-veteran Adelardo and regular goalscorers Luis Aragonés, Javier Irureta and José Eulogio Gárate, the latter winning the Pichichi three times in 1969, 1970 and 1971.In the 1970s, Atlético also recruited several Argentine players, signing Rubén Ayala, Panadero Díaz and Ramón "Cacho" Heredia as well as coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo.Lorenzo believed in discipline, caution and disrupting the opponents' game, and although controversial, his methods proved successful—after winning La Liga in 1973, the club reached the 1974 European Cup Final.[32] In the away leg of the semi-finals against Celtic, Atlético had Ayala, Díaz and substitute Quique all sent off during a hard-fought encounter in what was reported as one of the worst cases of cynical fouling the tournament has seen.Against a Bayern Munich team that included Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeneß and Gerd Müller, Atlético played above themselves.Aragonés scored with a superb, curling free-kick that looked like the winner, but in the last minute of the game, Bayern defender Georg Schwarzenbeck equalized with a stunning 25-yarder that left Atlético goalkeeper Miguel Reina motionless.Right away, Gil spent heavily, bringing in a number of expensive signings, most notably Portuguese winger Paulo Futre, who had just won the European Cup with Porto.Somewhat unexpectedly, in the following 1995–96 season, newly arrived head coach Radomir Antić, with a squad including holdovers Toni, Roberto Solozábal, Delfí Geli, Juan Vizcaíno, José Luis Caminero, Diego Simeone and Kiko, as well as new acquisitions Milinko Pantić, Lyuboslav Penev, Santi Denia and José Francisco Molina finally delivered the much sought-after league titles as Atlético won the La Liga/Copa del Rey double.With expectations and ambitions raised, the most notable summer transfer signings were striker Juan Esnáider from Real Madrid and Radek Bejbl, who was coming off a great showing for Czech Republic at Euro 1996.All of the success, however, produced little change in the overall Gil strategy, and although Antić survived three consecutive seasons in charge, he was replaced during the summer of 1998 with Arrigo Sacchi, who himself only remained in the managerial hot seat for less than six months.In December 1999, Gil and his board were suspended pending an investigation into the misuse of club funds, with government-appointed administrator José Manuel Rubí running Atlético's day-to-day operations.They replaced veteran goalkeeper Leo Franco with David de Gea from the youth ranks and signed promising youngster Sergio Asenjo from Real Valladolid.[65] Despite pressure from big clubs to sell star players Agüero and Forlán, Atlético remained committed to keeping their strong attacking base in the hopes for a successful new season.The 2009–10 season, however, began poorly with many defeats and goals conceded.[67] After failing to sign Danish former footballer Michael Laudrup, Atlético Madrid announced that the new manager for the rest of the season would be Quique Sánchez Flores.Atlético went on to win the Europa League, beating English teams Liverpool[70] in the semi-finals and eventually Fulham[71] in the finals held at HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg on 12 May 2010.[79][80][81][82] The club were in a period of uncertainty, having appointed five managers in less than three years and allowing young talents, namely Agüero and de Gea, to leave for the Premier League.[80] His focus was on building a strong defence, anchored by teenage Chelsea loanee goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Uruguayan centre-back Diego Godín.According to Spanish football writer Andy West, Atlético fans came to quickly to embrace Simeone, especially in light of his role as a pivotal player in their 1995-96 league and cup double.[88] Antoine Griezmann, who had a standout season in La Liga and featured at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, joined Atlético from Real Sociedad on 28 July 2014.[96][97] One of the world's best strikers, Suárez made a dramatic impact at the club, as he played a pivotal role in their unexpected La Liga title triumph, seven years after the 2013–14 win.Although the team wavered later in the season, Suárez's relentless competitive drive proved decisive, as he netted crucial goals in the final two games to secure the title.[128] The club plays home fixtures in the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, which was expanded from a 20,000 seat capacity (when it was known as La Peineta) to 68,000 after it was used for Madrid's failed bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic.[131] Atlético began playing in blue and white, mirroring then-parent club Athletic Bilbao, but both changed to red-and-white stripes by 1911 which became their traditional colours.[citation needed] Celebrities Joaquín Sabina, Belén Esteban, Birgitte V. Gade, Leiva, Álvaro Bautista, Omar Hittini, Ana Rosa Quintana, Javier Bardem, Sara Carbonero, Pablo Iglesias Turrión, El Langui, Pedro Sánchez, Luis de Guindos, Rosendo Mercado, José Tomás, Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, David Muñoz, Will Smith, Harrison Ford, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron and Karl-Anthony Towns are all fans of the club.