Atletico Madrid Home 1995/1996

Atletico Madrid Home 1995/1996

Story of the 90’s Atletico
Jesús Gil also closed down Atlético’s youth academy in 1992, a move that would prove significant due to 15-year-old academy member Raúl who, as a result, went across town to later achieve worldwide fame with rivals Real Madrid. The move came as part of the overall Gil-initiated business restructuring of the club. Atlético became a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva. A corporate structure benefiting from a then-recently introduced special legal status under Spanish corporate law. Allowing individuals to purchase and trade club shares.

In the 1994–95 league campaign, Atlético only avoided relegation via a draw on the last day of the season. This prompted another managerial change along with a wholesale squad clearance during the summer window. Somewhat unexpectedly, in the following 1995–96 season, newly arrived head coach Radomir Antić build a new squad. A team including holdovers Toni, Roberto Solozábal, Delfí Geli, Juan Vizcaíno, José Luis Caminero, Diego Simeone and Kiko, as well as new acquisitions Milinko Pantić, Luboslav Penev, Santi Denia and José Francisco Molina finally delivered the much sought-after league title as Atlético won the La Liga/Copa del Rey double.

The next season, 1996–97, saw the club take part in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. With expectations and ambitions raised, the most notable summer transfer signings were striker Juan Esnáider from Real Madrid and Radek Bejbl, who was coming off a great showing for Czech Republic at Euro 1996. Playing on two fronts, Atlético fell out of the league title contention early while, in the Champions League, they lost to Ajax in extra-time in the quarter-finals.

Before the 1997–98 season, the heavy spending continued with the signings of Christian Vieri and Juninho. All of the success, however, produced little change in the overall Gil strategy, and although Antić survived three consecutive seasons in charge, he was replaced during the summer of 1998 with Arrigo Sacchi, who himself only remained in the managerial hot seat for less than six months. Antić then returned briefly in early 1999 only to be replaced with Claudio Ranieri at the end of the season.

The 1999–2000 season proved disastrous for Atlético. In December 1999, Gil and his board were suspended pending an investigation into the misuse of club funds. With government-appointed administrator José Manuel Rubí running Atlético’s day-to-day operations. With the removal of club President Jesús Gil and his board. The players performed poorly and the club floundered. Ranieri handed in his resignation with the club sitting 17th out of 20 in the league table and heading towards relegation. Antić, returning for his third coaching stint, was unable to prevent the inevitable. They reached the Copa del Rey final in 2000 but unfortunately that was not enough. Atlético went down to the second division a second time after 66 years.

Atlético spent two seasons in the Segunda División. Narrowly missing out on promotion in 2000–01 season before winning the Segunda División championship in 2002. It was again Luis Aragonés, in his fourth and last spell as manager of Atlético, who brought them back to the Primera División. He also coached the team during the next season, and gave Fernando Torres his La Liga debut. Ultimately shaping his future as a powerhouse forward.

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