History of Atlético Madrid

The club was founded on 26 April 1903 as Athletic Club Sucursal de Madrid by three Basque students living in Madrid. These founders saw the new club as a youth branch of their childhood team, Athletic Bilbao, who they had just seen win the 1903 Copa del Rey Final in the city. In 1904, they were joined by dissident members of Real Madrid. They began playing in blue and white halved shirts, the then colours of Athletic Bilbao, but by 1910, both the Bilbao and Madrid teams were playing in their current colours of red and white stripes. Some believe the change came about because red and white striped tops were the cheapest to make, as the same combination was used to make ticking for mattresses, and the unused cloth was easily converted into football shirts. This contributed to the club's nickname, Los Colchoneros.

However, another explanation is that both Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Madrid used to buy Blackburn Rovers' blue and white kits in England. In late 1909, Juan Elorduy, a former player and member of the board of Athletic Madrid, went to England to buy kits for both teams but failed to find Blackburn kits to purchase; he instead bought the red and white shirts of Southampton (the club from the port city which was his embarkation point back to Spain). Athletic Madrid adopted the red and white shirt, leading to them being known as Los Rojiblancos, but opted to keep their existing blue shorts whereas the Bilbao team switched to new black shorts. Athletic Bilbao won the 1911 Copa del Rey Final using several 'borrowed' players from Athletic Madrid, including Manolón, who scored one of their goals.

Athletic's first ground, the Ronda de Vallecas, was in the eponymous working-class area on the south side of the city. In 1919, the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana—the company that ran the underground communication system in Madrid—acquired some land, near the Ciudad Universitaria. In 1921, Athletic Madrid became independent of parent-club Athletic Bilbao and moved into a 35,800-seater stadium built by the company, the Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid.

During the 1920s, Athletic won the Campeonato del Centro three times and were Copa del Rey runners-up in 1921, where they faced parent club Athletic Bilbao, as they would again in 1926. Based on these successes, in 1928 they were invited to join the Primera División of the inaugural La Liga played the following year. During their debut La Liga campaign, the club was managed by Fred Pentland, but after two seasons they were relegated to Segunda División. They briefly returned to La Liga in 1934 but were relegated again in 1936 after Josep Samitier took over in mid-season from Pentland. 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. Thus, both La Liga and Athletic's relegation were postponed, the latter by winning a playoff against Osasuna, champion of the Segunda División tournament.

Athletic Aviación de Madrid (1939–1947)

By 1939, when La Liga had resumed, Athletic had merged with Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza to become Athletic Aviación de Madrid. Aviación Nacional had been founded in 1937 by three aviation officers of the Spanish Air Force. 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. At that time, Real Oviedo also had its field destroyed by the war, so it was decided to give up its place to another team, and that finals spot was contested by Aviación and Osasuna, in a match in Valencia on 26 November 1939, which Aviación won 3–1. With the legendary Ricardo Zamora as manager, the club subsequently won their first La Liga title that season and retained the titles in 1941. The most influential and charismatic player of these years was the captain Germán Gómez, who was signed from Racing Santander in 1939. He played eight consecutive seasons for the Rojiblancos until the 1947–48 campaign. From his central midfield position, he formed a legendary midfield alongside Machín and Ramón Gabilondo.

In mid-1940, a decree issued by Francisco Franco banned teams from using foreign names and the club became Atlético Aviación de Madrid. In September 1940, Atlético Aviación won the first Super cup in Spanish football after beating RCD Español, the 1940 Copa del Generalísimo winners, in a two-legged game that ended in a 10–4 aggregate victory, including a 7–1 trashing in the second leg at Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas. On 14 December 1946, the club decided to drop the military association from its name, and shortly after, on 6 January, it settled on its current name of Club Atlético de Madrid. Also in 1947, Atlético beat Real Madrid 5–0 at the Metropolitano, their biggest win over their cross-town rivals to date.

Golden age

Under Helenio Herrera and with the help of Larbi Benbarek, Atlético won La Liga again in 1950 and 1951. 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.

However, during the 1960s and 1970s, Atlético Madrid seriously challenged Barcelona for the position of second team. The 1957–58 season saw Ferdinand Daučík take charge of Atlético, where he led them to second place in La Liga. This resulted in Atlético qualifying for the 1958–59 European Cup since the winners, Real Madrid, were the reigning European champions. Inspired by Brazilian centre-forward Vavá and Enrique Collar, Atlético reached the semi-finals after beating Drumcondra, CSKA Sofia and Schalke 04. In the semi-finals, they met Real Madrid, who won the first leg 2–1 at the Santiago Bernabéu while Atlético won 1–0 at the Metropolitano. The tie went to a replay and Real won 2–1 in Zaragoza.

Atlético, however, gained their revenge when, led by former Real coach José Villalonga, they defeated Real in two successive Copa del Rey finals in 1960 and 1961. In 1962, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Fiorentina 3–0 after a replay. This achievement was significant for the club, as the Cup Winners' Cup was the only major European trophy that Real Madrid never won. The following year, the club reached the 1963 finals, but lost to English side Tottenham Hotspur 5–1. Enrique Collar, who continued to be an influential player during this era, was now joined by the likes of midfielder Miguel Jones and midfield playmaker Adelardo.

Atlético's best years coincided with dominant Real Madrid teams. Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated La Liga, winning the competition 14 times. During this era, only Atlético offered Real any serious challenge, winning La Liga titles in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977 and finishing runners-up in 1961, 1963 and 1965. The club had further success winning the Copa del Rey on three occasions in 1965, 1972 and 1976. In 1965, when they finished as La Liga runners-up to Real after an intense battle for the titles, Atlético became the first team to beat Real at the Bernabéu in eight years.

European Cup Finalists (1965–1974)

In 1966, Atlético left the Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid (which was demolished and 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. 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.

On the way to the Final, Atlético knocked out Galatasaray, Dinamo București, Red Star Belgrade, and Celtic. 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 had seen. They managed a 0–0 draw, followed by a 2–0 victory in the return leg with goals from Gárate and Adelardo.

The finals at Heysel Stadium, however, was a loss for Atlético. Against a Bayern Munich team that included Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeneß, and Gerd Müller, Atlético played above themselves. Despite missing Ayala, Díaz, and Quique through suspension, they went ahead in extra-time with only seven minutes left. 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.

In a replay back at Heysel two days later, Bayern won convincingly 4–0, with two goals each from Hoeneß and Müller.

The Aragonés Years (1974–1987)

Shortly after the defeat in the 1974 European Cup Final, Atlético appointed their veteran player Luis Aragonés as coach. Aragonés subsequently served as coach on four separate occasions: from 1974 to 1980, from 1982 to 1987, once again from 1991 until 1993, and finally from 2002 to 2003.

His first success came quickly as Bayern Munich had refused to participate in the Intercontinental Cup because of fixture congestion, and as European Cup runners-up, Atlético were invited instead. Their opponents were Independiente of Argentina, and after losing the away leg 1–0, they won the return leg 2–0 with goals from Javier Irureta and Rubén Ayala.

Aragonés subsequently led the club to further successes in the Copa del Rey in 1976 and La Liga in 1977.

During his second spell in charge, Aragonés led the club to a runners-up finish in La Liga and a winner's medal in the Copa del Rey, both in 1985. He received considerable help from Hugo Sánchez, who scored 19 league goals and won the Pichichi. Sánchez also scored twice in the cup final as Atlético beat Athletic Bilbao 2–1. Sánchez, however, only remained at the club for one season before his move across the city to Real Madrid. Despite the loss of Sánchez, Aragonés went on to lead the club to success in the Supercopa de España in 1985 and then guided them to the European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1986. Atlético, however, lost their third successive European finals, this time 3–0 to Dynamo Kyiv.

The Transition Years (1987–2005)

In 1987, controversial politician and businessman Jesús Gil became club president, running the club until his resignation in May 2003.

Atlético had not won La Liga for ten years and were desperate for league success. Gil spent heavily, bringing in several expensive signings, most notably Portuguese winger Paulo Futre, who had just won the European Cup with Porto. All the spending, however, only brought in two consecutive Copa del Rey trophies in 1991 and 1992, as the league titles proved elusive. The closest Atlético came to the La Liga trophy was the 1990–91 season when they finished runners-up by 10 points to Johan Cruyff's Barcelona.

In the 1994–95 league campaign, Atlético only avoided relegation via a draw on the last day of the season. This prompted another managerial change, along with a wholesale squad clearance during the summer 1995 transfer window. 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.

The next season, 1996–97, saw the club take part in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. However, the success was short-lived, as the heavy spending continued, and Atlético’s league form dwindled. In December 1999, Gil and his board were suspended pending an investigation into the misuse of club funds, which led to the club's relegation to Segunda División.

Aguirre Era (2006–2009)

In 2006, Atlético signed Portuguese midfielders Costinha and Maniche, as well as Argentine forward Sergio Agüero. In July 2007, Fernando Torres left the club for Liverpool for €38 million, while Luis García signed for the club. Atlético also bought Diego Forlán from Villarreal for €21 million, and Portuguese winger Simão Sabrosa for €20 million, as well as José Antonio Reyes from Arsenal for €12 million.

The 2007–08 season proved to be the most successful in a decade, as Atlético qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 1996–97 season, finishing fourth in the league.

In 2009, manager Javier Aguirre was dismissed after a poor start to the season, with Abel Resino replacing him. Despite the managerial change, Atlético finished fourth once again and striker Diego Forlán won the Pichichi and European Golden Shoe after scoring 32 goals that season.

The Sánchez Flores Years (2009–2011)

With the arrival of Sánchez Flores as coach in October 2009, Atlético improved in many of their competitions. Atlético continued to lag somewhat in La Liga during the 2009–10 season, finishing in ninth position, but managed to finish third in their 2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage and subsequently entered the Europa League in the round of 32. Atlético went on to win the Europa League, beating English teams Liverpool in the semi-finals and eventually Fulham in the finals held at HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg on 12 May 2010. Diego Forlán scored twice, the second being an extra-time winner in the 116th minute, as Atlético won 2–1.

It was the first time since the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup that Atlético had claimed a European title. They also reached the Copa del Rey finals on 19 May 2010, where they faced Sevilla, but lost 2–0 at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. By winning the Europa League, they qualified for the 2010 UEFA Super Cup against Inter Milan, winner of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. The match was played at the Stade Louis II, Monaco, on 27 August 2010. Atlético won 2–0 with goals from José Antonio Reyes and Sergio Agüero, Atlético's first win in the UEFA Super Cup.

Atlético had a comparatively disappointing 2010–11 season, finishing only seventh in the League and being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey and the group stage of the Europa League. This ultimately led to the departure of manager Sánchez Flores before the conclusion of the season, who was replaced by ex-Sevilla manager Gregorio Manzano. Manzano secured the final Europa League place for Atlético. Manzano himself was replaced with Diego Simeone in December 2011 after a poor run of form in La Liga.

Simeone Era (2011–Present)

Simeone led Atlético to their second Europa League win in the three years since its creation. Atlético beat Athletic Bilbao 3–0 in the finals on 9 May 2012 at National Arena in Bucharest, with two goals from Radamel Falcao and one from Diego. By winning the Europa League again, Atlético qualified for the 2012 UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea, winners of the previous season's Champions League. The game was played at the Stade Louis II, Monaco on 31 August 2012; Atlético won 4–1, including a hat-trick by Falcao in the first half. On 17 May 2013, Atlético beat Real Madrid 2–1 in the Copa del Rey finals in a tense match where both teams finished with ten men. This ended a 14-year and 25-match winless streak in the Madrid derby. The 2012–13 season saw the club finish with three trophies in a little over a year.

On 17 May 2014, a 1–1 draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona secured the La Liga title for Atlético, their first since 1996, and the first title since 2003–04 not won by Barcelona or Real Madrid. One week later, Atlético faced city rivals Real Madrid in their first Champions League final since 1974, and the first played between two sides from the same city. They took a first-half lead through Diego Godín and led until the third minute of injury time, when Sergio Ramos headed in an equaliser from a corner; the match went to extra time, and Real ultimately won 4–1. Atlético reached a second Champions League final in three seasons in 2015–16, again facing Real Madrid, and lost on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

The club played their last home game at the Vicente Calderón Stadium on 21 May 2017, thereby moving to a new home, the refurbished Wanda Metropolitano in eastern Madrid.

In 2018, they won their third Europa League title in nine years by beating Marseille 3–0 in the final at the Stade de Lyon in Lyon, courtesy of a brace from Antoine Griezmann and a goal from club captain Gabi in what would be his last match for the club. Atlético also won another UEFA Super Cup after beating Real Madrid 4–2 at the outset of the following season at the Lilleküla Arena in Tallinn.

Simeone Holding La Liga Trophy on 23 May 2021

On 22 May 2021, a 2–1 win at the José Zorrilla Stadium against Valladolid secured the La Liga title for Atlético, seven years after their last triumph.

On 16 April 2024, the team qualified for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in the club's history, despite being eliminated in the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, as Barcelona were also eliminated, and Atlético were the higher-ranked Spanish club in the UEFA four-year ranking.