La Liga Weekly

It’s an interesting story the Madrid derby. Madrid scores often, and early, an opportunistic goal by Kaka from distance, 2-0 to Marcelo of all people, and a little after half-time it was already 3-0 when Pipita Higuain, ransacked through the Atleti defense for a deft shot in the box. Quique-Sanchez Flores responds by calling on his best player, the injured Kun Aguero, who promptly, finally starts exposing the fatal flaws in the Real Madrid defense. The are half-a-team, the merengues are, and if Atleti had another half to spare, they might have made it interesting, but we have to remember that this is Atleti.

As Sid Lowe in the Guardian wrote today,

• “Since October 1999, Al Nasr Saudi Club, Al-Ahly, Alavés, Alcorcón, Almería, Anderlecht, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Betis, Boca Juniors, Celta Vigo, Deportivo, Espanyol, Galatasaray, Getafe, Graz, Hannover, Internazionale, Juventus, Las Palmas, Levante, Liverpool, Lokomotiv Moscow, Málaga, Mallorca, Manchester United, Milan, Monaco, Murcia, Nastic, Numancia, Olympiakos, Lyon, Osasuna, PSV, Racing, Rayo Vallecano, Nexaca, Real Sociedad, Real Unión, Recreativo, Roma, Servette, Sevilla, Spartak Moscow, Sporting Lisbon, Tokyo Verdy, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, Villarreal, Werder Bremen and Zaragoza have all beaten Real Madrid. Atlético have not.”

That is a stunning statistic. 10 years since the colchoneros have won against Madrid. In that time the red-and-whites have seen their President and his board suspended for fraud, they spent two subsequent years in the segunda division, and they have spent millions upon millions of dollars on players, only to see them continue on through the revolving door at the Vicente Calderon. You want another definition of instability? These are the coaches who have walked the pitch for Atleti in that time.

1. Radomir Antic, one of only two people to manage both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. He now coaches the Serbian NT.
2. Arrigo Sacchi, the legendary AC Milan coach, 1994 World Cup coach for Italy. His last position was Director of Football at Real Madrid from 2004-2005
3. Claudio Ranieri, who managed Valencia, Chelsea FC, and Juventus, and now coaches AS Roma.
4. Fernando Zambrano, former youth team coach. Also coached Rayo Vallecano.
5. Marcos Alonso, couldn’t get Atleti promoted from the second division, but managed to coach Zaragoza, Malaga and Valladolid afterwards.
6. Gregorio Manzano, found stability and intent at Mallorca after leaving Atleti in 2004.
7. Cesar Ferrando, who managed to get Albacete promoted, couldn’t handle the European pressure for the rojiblancos and was fired.
8. Carlos Bianchi, the famed Boca Juniors coach, should have chosen a better pathway to match his legendary status at home. Left after half a season.
9. Jose Murcia, second team coach. Finished the season.
10. Javier Aguirre, coached the Mexican NT twice, as he is currently, but took Osasuna over for 4 years, saving them from relegation and building them to UEFA Cup contenders. Fired for “losing the dressing room” at Atleti.
11. Abel Resino, ex-club legend and youth team coach. Now coaches at CD Castellon. Fired for having “lost the dressing room”.
12. Quique-Sanchez Flores, ex-Getafe, ex-Valencia and ex-Benfica coach. A skilled coach, a self-styled technician in the Rafa Benitez mold, severe and organized, but he’s met his match with this club.

When is a derby not a derby? When one team never wins.