Atletico Madrid Must Be Seen as Contenders for Champions League Last-Four Again

The transfer window is shut, La Liga is up and running and everything is looking pretty rosy for Atletico Madrid as we (already) head into the first international week of the season.

Things will ramp up quickly when returning to action after the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers. Atleti face a home Liga match against reigning champions Barcelona and then kick straight on with their opening UEFA Champions League group stage match, away to Galatasaray.

Atleti confirmed their Champions League squad on Wednesday, and the team will surely be looking at the European competition as one they can again go far in this term, being one of the main sides who should target another semi-final appearance—at which point anything can happen.

Recent History

Manager Diego Simeone's time at the club has been a golden one for Atleti, domestically as well as in Europe. With him in charge for only five months, Atleti lifted the UEFA Europa League trophy in May 2012, and since then, at least one piece of silverware has been lifted every season.

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Indeed, they have been a force in Europe practically since he walked through the door—the 2012-13 campaign was the only season he has presided over where no notable impact was made in Europe. The 2013-14 season saw Atletico go unbeaten throughout their Champions League campaign, while winning La Liga no less, all the way to the final. There they held off Real Madrid for 90 minutes before succumbing in extra time.

Last season it was the quarter-finals for Atleti, where they were again undone very late on by their city rivals.

This year, with a bigger squad to choose from and a potentially more expansive style of play, advancing past the quarters is a minimum requirement. However, the expectation must be there to go even further.

Group Stage

Atletico were drawn into Group C along with the champions of Portugal, Turkey and Kazakhstan: Benfica, Galatasaray and FC Astana. While the latter side are an unknown quantity, it should be reasonably expected that a professional display could see them off home and away in the middle two game weeks of the group, making Galatasaray perhaps the direct opponent to beat.

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The first match, away in Turkey, comes on the heels of the Barcelona Liga fixture, while the fifth group game sees Gala come to the Vicente Calderon. It's always ideal to get as close to qualification as possible before the final group stage game, which can come at a tough time before the winter break with regular league games, so that game in late November against the Turkish side could prove a critical one.

Luckily for Atleti, it falls between Liga games against Real Betis and Espanyol; neither are a pushover, but they are also not among the league's top half-dozen teams. They will target that as a game for absolute victory, and potentially a decisive three points before the final group stage game, away to Benfica.

Of course, trying to guess who potential opponents might be in the knockouts is pointless at this stage. However, Simeone will back himself and his team to be able to overcome even the most stubborn and talented of opponents over two legs—such is the duality of this Atleti side, attack and defence.

Titles

When it comes down to the last two months of the season, all any team can really ask for is to be in the running for the championship: the top two or three of the league, no more than three points off the pace and still in a knockout cup competition.

For Atleti and the Champions League, once the group stage is navigated—and they will rightly have expectations of topping Group C—the path to success become clearer. But when it gets down to the semi-finals and finals themselves, it's impossible to account for every eventuality. Chances can be scored or missed, decisions go for or against a team and luck plays its own part—not every trophy can be won or lost simply because of the talent (or lack thereof) of a team.

Being in the hunt is the first part of the job, then planning, fortune and mentality will have just as much of a say as genuine ability. Simeone and his team can certainly attest to having a winning mentality over the past few years—this season's competition in Europe will be another chance to showcase exactly that.

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