Atletico Madrid Champions League win focus

Champions League ball (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

It’s no secret that focusing on just one competition can be beneficial to a team when it comes to the cut-throat run-in to any given season. That’s simply common sense. Fewer games mean star players can sit out games of lesser importance in order to be in tip-top condition for those that matter. Never has that been more noticeable than at Atletico Madrid in this season’s UEFA Champions League. 

Unlike in recent campaigns when Diego Simeone’s men have been competing alongside both Barcelona and Real Madrid in a quest to win La Liga, this season, Los Rojiblancos are well off the pace and are simply settling for a spot in the top four. But while that may be somewhat of a pessimistic approach, it is also a smart one. Atleti have already secured a spot in the Copa Del Rey final by beating Barca across two legs in the semifinals, and now, they look poised and ready to dump the Blaugrana out of the Champions League as well. 

Atletico Madrid Stun Barcelona 

The Spanish capital’s perceived “second club” headed to Catalonia for the first leg of their quarterfinal in the Camp Nou with the betting odds stacked against them. Some outlets listed them as long as 5/1 to secure the victory against the current runaway La Liga leaders, as well as 25/1 outsiders to win the Champions League outright. But Simeone’s side has never been one to shy away from their underdog status. 

With ‘El Cholo’ heavily rotating his squad domestically in the weeks leading up to the contest, Atletico were fresh and ready for the fight. Barcelona, meanwhile, looked jaded and in need of a rest. And when their highly rated teenage defender Pau Cubarsi was sent off on the stroke of half-time with the game finely poised at 0-0, Simeone and Atleti took full advantage. Julian Alvarez slammed home the resulting free kick to give the visitors the lead, before Alexander Sørloth bundled home to double the lead in the second half. 

Atletico now have a 2-0 lead to defend in the second leg, and they will do so with a fully rested squad, and with history on their side. Los Rojiblancos haven’t lost when hosting the second leg of a Champions League tie in 29 years, let alone by two clear goals. As such, it’s safe to say that those aforementioned betting odds have now swung in their favour. 

Websites allowing soccer betting with Bitcoin now give Atletico a 10/1 shot to win the Champions League this season, less than half of the 25/1 they were ahead of the first leg. As they continue to rest players in La Liga to focus on their continental adventure, those odds will surely shorten further should they make it through to the semifinals. 

Atletico aren’t the first team to see their European efforts benefit from not being involved in a domestic title fight. Here are two other teams that have also followed the same blueprint. 

Chelsea 

When Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in the summer of 2004, the one trophy he valued above all others was the Champions League. The Blues would reach the semifinals of the competition five times in their first six seasons in charge, even reaching the final for the first time in 2008. Unfortunately for the Russian owner, his West London side lost all of them, with their Premier League fortunes — the club won three league titles throughout the same time frame — costing them dearly on the continental stage. 

By 2012, the club was in disarray domestically. Out of league contention by the new year, interim manager Roberto Di Matteo — appointed following the disastrous tenure of Andre Villas-Boas — immediately prioritised the Champions League above all other competitions. The decision paid dividends. 

While Chelsea finished fifth in the Premier League, they would go on to lift the famous big-eared trophy for the first time, beating both Barcelona in the semi-finals and Bayern Munich — on their home turf — in the final in fairytale fashion. And nine years later, history would repeat itself, as Thomas Tuchel led a Blues team that finished fourth in the Premier League to a second-ever Champions League crown. 

AC Milan 

Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan were arguably the Champions League’s dominant force throughout the 2000s. They reached three finals in five seasons between 2003 and 2007, winning two of them. On none of those runs to European football’s showpiece fixture, however, did they win Serie A. In fact, they barely even competed for the Scudetto. 

In the 2002/03 season, the Rossoneri finished third in the Italian top flight, a whopping 11 points behind Juventus. However, the Bianconeri were forced to continually play stars such as Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet week after week as they looked to pip Inter to the title. Don Carlo, meanwhile, was able to rest his key men, and that was the crucial difference maker as his side beat Juve in the Old Trafford final. 

Two years later, Milan would reach the final once again, and once again, they were never truly in Scudetto contention, finishing seven points behind Juve. Still, the likes of Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko — who were well-rested — powered them to the Champions League final, and it looked as though they would once again lift the trophy when they raced into a 3-0 halftime lead against Liverpool in Istanbul. Unfortunately for them, they would fall victim to one of football’s greatest ever miracles as the Reds mounted a comeback for the ages. But still, the blueprint of prioritising Europe over domestic matters shone through. 

In 2007, the agony of that Istanbul collapse would end as Milan met Liverpool once again in the final, this time in Athens. This time around, the Rossoneri finished a whopping 36 points behind cross-city rivals Inter as they finished fourth in Serie A. But their domestic woes were irrelevant when Filippo Inzaghi’s brilliant brace downed the Reds in the Greek capital to claim the European Cup yet again. Nearly two decades on, Atletico Madrid look to follow in those illustrious footsteps. 

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