Jornada 1: Atlético de Madrid 4 Málaga 0

An all-foreign starting 11 thump newly-promoted Málaga

Coupet; Seitaridis, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Pernía; Assunção, Maniche, Simão, Maxi (Raúl García 77’); Agüero (Sinama-Pongolle 55’) & Forlán (Luis García, 59)’

GOALS
25′ Heitinga
37′ Forlán
42′ Forlán
80′ Sinama Pongolle

Internet connection died midway, so I missed a large portion of the game.

Comments & observations welcome!

Jornada 1: Atlético de Madrid v Málaga CF

FINALLY, the start of the 08/09 season! Fortunately, I have VERIZON FIOS as my cable provider, so I can watch Liga games (en vivo). Unfortunately, though, our opening game will NOT be televised. I will, instead, follow through the Internet.

In any case, we face newly promoted Málaga CF, a team that has been a bit of a yo-yo and not a stranger to the top division. They earned promotion last season by finishing in the #2 spot. From what I’ve been reading, their manager is expected to field a 4-2-2-1-1 formation for the game. Their side is not without doubts: Apparently the three questions looming are 1) goalkeeping, 2) defensive mid, and 3) which striker to put up front. If anyone knows anything else about the current status of this team, do share!

Slightly off topic: Éver Banega, our on-loan Argentine midfielder, trained with the team today. It’ll be interesting to see how he blends with the current team. It’ll be tough for him to break into the starting 11, I think, unless he truly shines when he does play.

[Update] OUR STARTING 11: Coupet; Seitaridis, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Pernía; Assunçao, Maniche; Simão, Maxi; Agüero & Forlán.

SUBS: Leo Franco, Pablo, Perea, Antonio López, Raúl García, Luis García, Sinama-Pongolle.

Coupet chosen over Leo Franco because Aguirre feels he has played well. NO idea why Pernía earned a starting 11 spot…Did he play OK against Schalke?!

NOT CHOSEN AT ALL (TACTICAL DECISION): Ángel Bernabé, Miguel, Banega, Valera & Camacho.

Let’s start this season with a win!

And always…y como siempre, AUPA ATLETI!

Champions: Group D!

Common knowledge at this point, but for the blog’s sake, here’s our Group:

GROUP D
Atlético de Madrid
Liverpool FC
PSV Eindhoven
Olympique de Marseille

MATCH DAY 1: PSV v Atleti

MATCH DAY 2: Atleti v Marseille

MATCH DAY 3: Atleti v Liverpool

MATCH DAY 4: Liverpool v Atleti

MATCH DAY 5: Atleti v PSV

MATCH DAY 6: Marseille v Atleti

Champions Atlético de Madrid v Schalke

Second leg after a lackluster 0-1 loss in Germany!

Do or die!

More details here.

Kun Succeeds with Argentina…

(3-0 against Brasil)

…while the rest of the team continue to struggle.

Trofeo Teresa Herrera
Atlético 2 Deportivo 1
Our only goal scored by De Abreu (45′).

Atlético 3 Sporting de Gijón 3
Goals by Maniche (7′), Luis García (30′) and Diego Costa (79′).

More of the same nonsense this season or will the return of Kun improve our game? I hope the latter…

Rumours, rumours, rumours…will we make one more signing before the transfer window closes? We need a playmaker desperately!!! Pernía, Cléber, and Maniche should be shown the exit. Will that happen? Unlikely at this point…

Champions: Schalke 1 Atlético de Madrid 0

 

Briefly: what a horrendous, embarassing way to begin out 08/09 Champions campaign. Once again, we are left with a bitter taste in our mouths. Again and again… and again.

Two positives in all of this? That it was only a 1-0 loss and that we will have Kun back from international duty for the second leg, in a do or die situation.

As a lot of sources have been reporting, Schalke were far more superior, particularly in the first half, with clear opportunities at goal.

ThE UGLY: We lacked attacking edge and creativity; nervous defending, especially on the flanks; and the explusion of Antonio López in the 74th minute. Anything else to add?

I am most disappointed with Forlán.

Another thing? AGUIRRE IS NOT A CHAMPIONS QUALITY MANAGER.  FUERA YA!

Anything missing? Any other positives? Negatives?

Champions: FC Schalke 04 v Atlético de Madrid

[UPDATE] SUPPORTERS IN THE USA: The first leg will NOT be shown live. ESPN Deportes channel will show it delayed at 8.00pm (Eastern Time). Watch it LIVE (en vivo) on the Internet!               

                                                                                                             

 The 08/09 Premier League season will start up this weekend and undoubtedly many of us will be keeping an eye out on that, in terms of build-up…but don’t forget our FIRST LEG OF THE CHAMPIONS THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND!

WHEN? THIS WEDNESDAY (the 13th)!

Here’s the squad that will be traveling to Germany:

GK: Coupet, Leo Franco.

DF: Seitaridis, Antonio López, Pernía, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Perea, Pablo, Valera.

MF: Cléber, Raúl García, Luis García, Maxi, Assunção, Miguel, Simão, Camacho.

FW: Diego Forlán, Sinama Pongolle.

MOTTA is still recuperating from his injury and MANICHE was omitted by technical decision. In other words, we are still in search for a club for him. KUN is still participating in the Olympics, of course.

According to AS, all of our summer signings will play in this first leg, with the exception of Coupet.

Here’s what they say our starting 11 will look like:

Leo Franco, Antonio López, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Perea, Simão, Assunção, Raúl García, Maxi, Forlán, & Sinama Pongolle.

Not bad at all. The only important piece missing is Kun.

Anyone know what might be Schalke’s starting 11?

Let’s hope for the best result possible…and always:

AUPA ATLETI

[I might update this entry with more info as it becomes available.]

This & That

I’m back from hot, hot, hot Florida.

Last Pre-season friendly: Rayo 2 Atlético 4
I didn’t watch it, but apparently Maxi had a great game as did Ujfalusi. Poor positioning by Leo Franco led to the second goal.

CHAMPIONS
Aguirre submitted this squad for our Champions clash against Schalke:

GK: Leo Franco, Coupet, Ángel Bernabé.

DF: Valera, Pablo, Perea, Antonio López, Pernía, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Seitaridis, Álvaro Domínguez, César Ortiz.

MF: Raúl García, Maxi, Luis García, Assunção, Miguel, Cléber, Camacho, Maniche, Simão, Joshua Zapata, Rubén Pérez.

FW: Agüero, Forlán, Sinama Pongolle, Rubén Ramos.

So…..Coupet or Leo Franco against Schalke? I’m leaning towards Coupet occuying the starting position, purely for his experience.

TRANSFER NEWS: Reyes, as everyone should know by now, will play for Benfica on a one-year loan with the option to make it a permanent move. I know some people wanted to give him another shot, but we have too many excess players and I’m glad he’s gone. Now, if we can find clubs for Seitaridis, Maniche, and Cléber, I think we’d have a stronger squad.

KUN WATCH
He played 80 minutes in Argentina’s 2-1 win against the Ivory Coast. No injuries picked up (although his hand was wrapped up) and I’ve read around the blogosphere that he didn’t have a particularly effective performance.

Anything missing?

Trofeo Cervantes: Alcalá 0 Atlético de Madrid 4

OUR FIRST PRE-SEASON WIN, albeit against a lower division team. In any case, it’s all about building confidence and continuing to blend as a team. According to match reports, we played a stronger game in the second half…

First half squad: Leo Franco; Seitaridis, Valera, Pablo, Pernía; Camacho; Miguel, Cléber, Reyes; Diego Costa & Luis García.

Second half squad: Coupet; Perea, Heitinga, Ujfalusi, Antonio López; Assunçao; Maxi, Raúl García, Simão; Forlán & Sinama Pongolle.

Is there any doubt that the second half squad is our top squad? I have yet to see them play with my own eyes, so I look forward to our Champions beginning soon.

GOLS
27′ Diego Costa
38′ Cléber
76′ Heitinga, assist by Simão
91′ Ujfalusi, assist by Simão

First two goals by our Brasilian players and the latter two goals by our new signings.

Heitinga is our top scorer in the pre-season.

Simão v Seitaridis

This may or may not be significant, but…according to AS, there was a heated argument between Simão and Seitaridis over a strong challenge by the Greek during a training session. Forlán, Miguel, & Cléber prevented the argument from escalating by pushing the two players away from each other.

Predictably, the rumour is that Seitaridis is frustrated with his current situation. He knows that he doesn’t figure into Aguirre‘s 08/09 plan, but he has yet to receive an acceptable offer out of the club.

In any case, we seem to have a reputation, especially in recent seasons, of internal conflicts, whether it be player versus player, player versus manager, manager v president, manager v sporting director, or president v supporters…

Remember last season?
Reyes v Aguirre
Reyes v Forlán
Maniche v Aguirre
Aguirre v Pitarch

And those are only the ones we know about. There could very well be more tension between other players that hasn’t been exposed to the press.

Do I expect everyone to get along famously? No. That’s unrealistic.  Should they at least put their differences aside and RESPECT each other? Yes.