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Atletico Madrid move into season 3 of FFO on the back of an impressive domestic campaign. Atletico were never in title contention but always pretty much in control of champions league qualification. A good run of form at the season end almost clinched 3rd place but 4th was above expectations. Since manager Simon Marsh took the hot seat the club finished 08th and 07th in FFO, and then 06th and 04th in FFO2. Every single season the finishing position has been higher than expected but now the club is seen by the neutral as a top-8 one and the surprise factor is now long gone. Atletico also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, knocking out giants Manchester City in the group stages. They statistically out-played Barcelona in the quarter-finals but were squeezed out by the eventual CL winners.
The challenge for Atletico and the others in the same section of skill-sets is how to progress to the standards being set by PSG, Roma, Real Madrid. Juventus look like the most likely to break into the EFL mega-clubs category. Manager Andy Banks has built a very young talented side who are still developing. They do not quite have the main skills but their secondaries are incredible. Juventus did indeed finish 03rd and above Real Madrid but only a fool would consider Steve Talbots side is not ready to bounce back next season. Real are a mega-club and Juventus have still to earn that title.
Manager Simon Marsh today spoke to the press "I am more than happy with the progress made over 4 seasons here but we will continue to strive to make improvements where we can. Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich will all be trying to find an edge next season too and Lazio were not far behind those. Ac Milan are under new management now and will be looking like Lazio to threaten. The EFL is a tough place to manage with some great brains in there.
Marsh added "Last season was a much less exciting one for the fans. In season one there were 207 goals scored in the 42 games we played in. In season 2 there were only 135. We improved our goal difference by 6 goals though and our points tally by 8. Defensively we were much improved. Offensively we were tamer. It remains to be seen what will happen next season but we will be looking to go at teams".
Marsh concluded "We have done some transfer business this close season already. Three new defenders are set to join the club with two defenders outgoing. We are in further talks about a possible sale to be concluded in the next day. The bank manager will be happy with over £250m unused funds waiting for team strengthening".
(Article 1 -464 words)
The challenge for Atletico and the others in the same section of skill-sets is how to progress to the standards being set by PSG, Roma, Real Madrid. Juventus look like the most likely to break into the EFL mega-clubs category. Manager Andy Banks has built a very young talented side who are still developing. They do not quite have the main skills but their secondaries are incredible. Juventus did indeed finish 03rd and above Real Madrid but only a fool would consider Steve Talbots side is not ready to bounce back next season. Real are a mega-club and Juventus have still to earn that title.
Manager Simon Marsh today spoke to the press "I am more than happy with the progress made over 4 seasons here but we will continue to strive to make improvements where we can. Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich will all be trying to find an edge next season too and Lazio were not far behind those. Ac Milan are under new management now and will be looking like Lazio to threaten. The EFL is a tough place to manage with some great brains in there.
Marsh added "Last season was a much less exciting one for the fans. In season one there were 207 goals scored in the 42 games we played in. In season 2 there were only 135. We improved our goal difference by 6 goals though and our points tally by 8. Defensively we were much improved. Offensively we were tamer. It remains to be seen what will happen next season but we will be looking to go at teams".
Marsh concluded "We have done some transfer business this close season already. Three new defenders are set to join the club with two defenders outgoing. We are in further talks about a possible sale to be concluded in the next day. The bank manager will be happy with over £250m unused funds waiting for team strengthening".
(Article 1 -464 words)