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[caption id="attachment_13261" align="alignnone" width="580"] Prithiijit Das (South Asia Head of Atletico Madrid) with Diego Simeone . Image Source: facebook[/caption] My relationship with Atletico Madrid had started way back in 2010 when I was working with Peter Kenyon and Jorge Mendes. Back in 2010-11 with the recession hit hard, Atletico was going through difficult times but they never stopped dreaming and believing in themselves. In comparisons to their neighbors Real Madrid, we were paupers with revenue being less than 20-25% of that of Real Madrid. Every year the club was losing some of their best talents to Teams in the Premier League. Something had to change and that's when Miguel Angel Gil Marin came up with a long term plan which has since changed the Club and in 5 years has made it the 4th most successful club in Europe between 2010-2016. Atletico have always stressed its importance on grassroots development and have the largest federated academy in the world comprising of 90 teams with as many as 2,000 registered players and 1,500 additional children training in Atletico Madrid Foundation. The academy boasts of having a rich diversity of player demographic that represents 41 different countries spanning across 5 different venues around Madrid. As many as four footballers (Gabi, Mario Suarez, Koke and Saul Niguez) are product of the academy that is now part of the first squad, while other footballers are playing in top European clubs. Prominent among them are Oliver Torres who is now plying the trade with FC Porto and Javier Manquillo who plays for Liverpool now. Another impressive statistics is as many as 22 players from the academy have represented the Spanish national squad. The first step of the Revival of Atleti was the arrival of Simeone and then shrewd movement in the transfer market saw the arrival and departure of top footballers. Antonio Griezman replaced Diego Costa who was replaced by Radamel Falcao who had replaced Sergio Aguero. This saw the Club perform consistently at the Highest Football Level; win the La Liga, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Supercopa and Champions League Finalist. Add to this they also got a new shareholder in Wanda group (Chinese real estate Company) whose vision matched with that of the club’s vision and their entry into India with co-owning Atletico de Kolkata. [caption id="attachment_13268" align="alignnone" width="580"] Prithiijit Das with Atletico Madrid owner Miguel Angel Gil Marin . Image Source: facebook[/caption] Atletico de Madrid’s vision which started in 2011 to grow as a global brand seems to be coming in shape and hopefully with the Club aiming to win a Double (La Liga and Champions League) life for the Rojiblancos will never be the same. I would also like to draw the attention towards their scouting process which has always been able to unearth raw talents starting from Fernando Torres to Saul Niguez. For me, most of the credit goes to Simeone changed the club first as a captain and a hard tackling midfielder in the nineties when the team won their first double. And now as a coach of the club, claiming for another double. In this ever changing world of football where Leicester City has won the Premier League, anything is possible as long as one is focused works as a team with dedication and perseverance. I think what Atletico has demonstrated over the last 3 years is we don’t need one or two stars but a group of people committed to fight for each other’s life. Like Cholo says “We never stopped believing, we never give up what we want to do.” Am sure sitting far away in India a lot of people now believe in the 'Atleti' philosophy and will pray that they lift the Champions League Trophy in Milan this year!!! Hail Simeone .... Prithiijit Das is the South Asia Head of Atletico Madrid