Atletico is one heck of a team even without Falcao, they are playing very intense.

1-1 is actually a great score

i agree atletico last season were always more than just falcao and 10 others

Simone has really built a fortress down there and the players seem to understand eachother like they have been playing together since they were juniors.

It won't be easy in the 2nd leg.

Atletico are all about how they work as a unit. From that perspective, squad depth isn't so important providing they don't have a full blown injury crisis. They can more or less replace any man on the field without it necessarily affecting their performance all that much.

Plus, they might not have glittering names, but there's much more to their bench than it might seem:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atl%C3%A9tico_Madrid#Current_squad

Leo Baptistao, Cebolla and Adrian can all do a job in attack.

They've got plenty of midfield options. Thiago, Mario, Garcia, Torres, plenty to choose from.

Back up in defence, includes Demichelis, who although I don't particularly like has plenty of experience, and there's up and coming right back Javier Manquillo, who was fairly impressive for Spain's U-20s this summer. Could be one to make a few waves if he breaks into the starting line up.

Perhaps not enough to be realistic title candidates in normal circumstances, but anything could happen if things go a bit pear-shaped for the big 2.

They are like baby United, not too many fancy names but as a unit they are on another level.

And the atmosphere yesterday was electric, one of the best I've seen in Spanish football.

The only trouble is that with their financial situation they're going to have trouble holding off bids when their players become a bit more recognised.

They are good at doing bargains, 2.1mil for D. Villa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSFmzgMlx74



lucky lucky boy to survive this

I thought bull fighting was banned in Espana..

nah only in cataluna
and the canary islands

Can't be denied that Simeone has forged a solid unit out of Atleti, which is no mean feat in itself, and the intensity is admirable indeed.

But from one of the last seasons' Madrid derbies it seemed Atleti lacked ideas and class on the counter and going forward in general when they were denied space, their wingers in particular, as I don't rate Mario Suarez and Raul Garcia as CMs too much. Solid workers but offer little else. I am aware that may be a conscious choice but I think somewhat more could and should be expected from CMs.

They have a squad of decent-to-good players but hardly anything special in the creative department. That said, the counter against Barca was quality and I hope to see more of the same this coming season

sevilla and betis both win in the europa league

Good results. You never know what to expect with these Czech outfits, same goes for the Poles. Udinese lost 1-3 at home last night to Slovan Liberec.

Raul celebrated his goal for Madrid last night as if he'd scored in the CL final against Barça. Thing is, he scored it against his current club.

Was it a testimonial or something because I don't...

Yeah, this year's Trofeo Bernabeu was organised as a Raul testimonial.

He played the 1st half with Madrid, playing in the number 7 shirt and wearing the captain's armband. He eventually scored the opener and celebrated as if he'd never left and as if he hadn't scored against his current employer.

At half time there makeshift ceremony in which he handed the shirt back to CR and the armband to Casillas.

He played the 2nd half for Al Sadd and Madrid scored 4 more to make it 5-0.

After the game he then joined the victory celebration and made a Maradona-style dive to get in the team photo when they were posing with the trophy.

Rounded off the night with his traditional mock-bullfighting show for the crowd.

Saw a brief summary, looked like it was fun, but not sure how it all went down with his current club.

Raul

Jesé played the second half. Scored 2, made 2 assists - one of them backheeled - both fluffed by Benzema, made the key pass to Carvajal in the build up to Isco's goal.

I wouldn't take Bale in a straight swap for him, let alone pay 90M.

It's quite funny listening to Madrid fans talk about Bale.

I feel sorry for Jese. Bringing in all these players is gonna make it even harder to get a look in. He looks a real talent as well.

I'd love him at United, he's the next Ronaldo. Him and Januzaj (the next Ozil) would be great in the future.

He played the 1st half with Madrid, playing in the number 7 shirt and wearing the captain's armband. He eventually scored the opener and celebrated as if he'd never left and as if he hadn't scored against his current employer.

At half time there makeshift ceremony in which he handed the shirt back to CR and the armband to Casillas.

He played the 2nd half for Al Sadd and Madrid scored 4 more to make it 5-0.

After the game he then joined the victory celebration and made a Maradona-style dive to get in the team photo when they were posing with the trophy.

Rounded off the night with his traditional mock-bullfighting show for the crowd.

Saw a brief summary, looked like it was fun, but not sure how it all went down with his current club.
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raul

he'd do a better job than benzo up front for madrid this season i reckon

Don't get all this sudden dislike of Benzema from the fans. He hasn't really changed, and we're only 1 game into the season.

The fans' approach at Madrid is always to boo a player who they feel isn't giving his best in the belief that it will spur him on, but while it works wonders with character like Ronaldo, it simply doesn't work with others. It ruined Drenthe and might just have the same effect on Benzema. He's always done better when he's been shown a bit of love and encouragement.

Don't get all this sudden dislike of Benzema from the fans
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should've said 'sudden onslaught' against him.

The fans' approach at Madrid is always to boo a player who they feel isn't giving his best in the belief that it will spur him on
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