Madrid no. 2 aims for Europe championship

Madrid no. 2 aims for Europe championship. May. 28, 2016 07:43. by 이종석기자 wing@donga.com. There is a 113-year-old football club, which was founded in 1903. This club won the championship 10 times each in Primera Liga and Copa del Rey (Spain's Kings Cup) that are considered the most prestigious football leagues. The club ranked third in the 2015-2016 season of Primera Liga. The club's name is Atlético Madrid.

Unfortunately, Atlético has a wrong neighbor: Real Madrid. Atlético is from the same area as the world's best club. Real was founded in 1902, one year earlier than Atlético, and has won the championship 32 times in Primera Liga and 19 times in Copa del Rey. The team has also won the UEFA Champions League 10 times, which is the most ever. It is inarguably the best club in the world. In the 2015-2016 season of Primera Liga, Real took the second place, which is one above Atlético. Because of such a neighbor, Atlético is considered number two.

Can "Madrid number two" defeat "Madrid number one" and become number one in Europe? The two clubs will meet in the final of the UEFA Champions League at 3:45 a.m. on May 29 (Korean time) in Milano, Italy. It has been two years since the last match between the two clubs. They met in the final of the same league two years ago. Atlético was 1 to 0 up when a tie goal was made in the extra minutes of the second half. After extra time, Atlético lost 1 to 4, losing its first chance to win the championship.

Atlético defeated FC Barcelona in the quarterfinal of this season. Barcelona was the champion of the 2015-2016 season of Primera Liga. In the semifinal, Atlético won against FC Bayern Munich, which was the champion of the 2015-2016 season of the German Bundesliga. If Atlético defeats Real and wins the "Big Ear" trophy, there is no doubt that Atlético would be the number one team in Europe. The term "Madrid number two" will no longer apply to the team.

With Diego Godín's excellent performance, Atlético has had minimal losses so far in the season. Their defense is so strong that they allowed only 18 goals in 38 matches (0.47 goal per match). Real, on the other hand, has a very powerful offense with the best striker in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo. Real scored 110 goals in 38 matches in the Primera Liga (2.9 goals per match), second to Barcelona (112 goals). In this champions league, they made 27 goals in 12 matches before the semifinal (2.25 goals per match), second to Munich (total 30 goals, 2.5 goals per match).

"This time, it will be different from two years ago," Atlético manager Diego Simeone remarked. "I admit that Real has the best offense, but we will lead the game in our style." Simeone mostly uses a defensive strategy in a 4-4-2 formation that suddenly changes to a counterattack mode or makes corner kicks and free kicks.

Ronaldo has made 16 goals so far in this season. If he makes two more goals in the final, that would be his new record for total goals in a season (his current record is 17 goals). Real manager Zinedine Zidane, who took the helm of the team last year, is now trying to win the championship as he did as a player and coach. Zidane won the trophy in the 2001-2002 season as a player, and won another in the 2013-2014 season as a coach. In both times, he was with Real.