Going into the international break, the La Liga table had a familiar look about it. A team from Barcelona and a team from Madrid were neck and neck at the top.
FC Barcelona has made a strong start to the season but that Madrid team is Atletico and not the mighty Real.
Atletico’s rise should not come as too much of a surprise. The capital club have won the Europa League twice in the last three years.
While Premier League clubs and managers may scoff at this, in Europe this is seen as quite a major achievement.
Chelsea fans would not have been laughing much after Atletico tore them apart in a 4 – 1 win in September’s Super Cup.
The last time the red and white half of Madrid won La Liga it was 1996 and since then results have been mediocre.
The last 17 years have seen a relegation, two Champions League appearances and success in the Europa League.
Current manager Diego Simeone has really brought about a level of direction and organization that has so often been lacking at the club.
Simeone is best remembered in this part of the planet as the Argentine player that got David Beckham sent-off in the 1998 World Cup.
But since his appointment in December 2011 he has won the Europa League, European Super Cup and taken the club up to second in the league – albeit at this early stage.
He has been helped by the quality of players available to him.
Diego Simeone ©Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe
Simeone has built on a solid defensive base of Chelsea loanee Thibaut Courtois in goals and Diego Godin and Juanfran at the back.
In front of them Simeone has formed a midfield mixture of technique and aggression carried out by Arda Turan, Gabi and Koke.
Colombian goal machine Falcao and Arsenal target Adrian Lopez spearhead the attack.
Falcao has been a revelation since moving to Madrid in August 2011, scoring an incredible 32 goals in 40 league games.
He also notched 12 goals as Atletico won the Europa League, including two sublime efforts in the final against Athletic Bilbao.
This season he netted an equally magnificent hat-trick against Chelsea, and has also scored eight league goals – the same as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, can Atletico keep up this form and gatecrash the top two in Spain. Real Madrid and Barcelona have locked out the top two every season since Pep Gaurdiola took over the reins at Barca in 2008.
And already the vultures are circling above the Vicente Calderon Stadium. Despite a buy-out clause of €60 million, Europe’s richest clubs are eyeing Falcao while Adrian Lopez is coveted by Arsenal.
But if Atletico Madrid can keep hold of Falcao beyond January then they are a shoe-in to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
And if the team is kept together is a tilt at the league title a possibility?
Atletico Madrid are three points behind league leaders Barcelona and stand five points clear of Real Madrid with a game in hand over both.
Jose Mourinho’s Real will surely improve as the season goes on as will Barcelona. If current form can be maintained then Atletico can definitely challenge for the title, although having said that they are unlikely to win it.
But any sort of challenge will be a shot in the arm for the also-rans in La Liga. It has been five years since the likes of Sevilla, Villareal and Valencia have challenged the status quo.
Raf Diallo
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