Atletico Madrid were in the running for a treble midway through March this season, an rare feat for Los Colchoneros, but watched as their progress in all three major competitions fell to pieces in the space of three weeks. Atletico are on course to finish third behind Real Madrid and Barcelona, but President Enrique Cerezo was not impressed with their progress.
Manager Diego Simeone has always been quick to point out that the budget he is working with a budget of around half of the Clasico duo. He told Diario AS after their win over Real Betis on Sunday that closing the gap to the top two is not easy.
“The club, with the opportunity to grow, participating in the Club World Cup, always in the Champions League, is fantastic for the club and its growth. The demands increase; it’s a tournament where Real Madrid and Barcelona play every year, so it’s not easy. In recent years, we were always theoretically third; last year we finished fourth, but looking back, Athletic Club is growing, Villarreal is growing, and it’s not so easy to get close to Madrid and Barcelona, but we try. We inflate the balloon together [build up the excitement], you and us, and in the end, the distance is clear.”
El Cholo was also clear that Atletico have been the best challengers that Real Madrid and Barcelona have faced over the last four decades.
“We don’t always finish third; we’ve also finished second twice, and we’ve won twice, competing with Madrid and Barcelona. In the 40 years between 1984 and today, Athletic Club won one league, Deportivo won one, Valencia won two, and we won three. There must be a reason.”
“We want to get close to winning, but we also value what we’ve achieved.”
Robin Le Normand: ‘We have to value third place’
Meanwhile defender Robin Le Normand, one of their big-money moves last summer, told Marca after the same game that they cannot dismiss finishing third either.
🚨 Enrique Cerezo: “Maybe I’ll tell you something—with permission from my friend Laporta. Maybe it’s more likely that Lamine comes to Atlético de Madrid than Julián goes to Barcelona (laughs).”@ellarguero/@Objetivoatleti pic.twitter.com/6sjKPzfwDB
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 20, 2025
“It’s fine. It’s normal that they’re demanding from us given the squad we have. We haven’t been far behind, we’ve fought in every competition. After all, it’s football. We have to value third place, even though we want more. There are opponents who demand a lot from us and who also want to win. That shouldn’t hold us back; rather, we should be focused on pushing ourselves and continuing to push ourselves to hopefully win a title one day.”
Atletico Madrid President – ‘It’s been a disaster’
However Atletico Madrid President Enrique Cerezo was not quite as forgiving. In his eyes, the Atletico season has gone ‘terribly’.
“I don’t know, it’s been a disaster. The truth is that we’ve had bad luck on some occasions, and at other times we’ve played very badly. But hey, the team is the same one that started the first season; it’s had its ups and downs, but in the end, the truth is that we’ve done terribly,” he told El Desmarque, as quoted by Relevo.
💣🚨 JUST IN: Álex Baena was seen in Madrid tonight at an event also attended by Julián Álvarez, De Paul, and Riquelme. 👀@inakivdl
pic.twitter.com/ZUrhv4HCCg
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) May 20, 2025
“We could have had three very important chances to win, but we practically confirmed with third place.”
Enrique Cerezo nuances discourse
Three days later, Cerezo somewhat softened his discourse during an interview with Cadena SER. While he backed away from the word disaster, he was not willing to ‘value’ third place either.
“We haven’t had a good season. It seemed like we had everything within our grasp, and in two or three games, everything slipped away. That doesn’t mean the season has been a disaster, it felt insufficient.”
Difference in ambition between Diego Simeone and Atletico?
Third place certainly seems like the base expectation for Atletico every year, but it also means that achieving their objective feels like little to celebrate too. Cerezo’s answers perhaps suggest that the hierarchy at Atletico expect more from Simeone and the squad, but it is an incredibly difficult ask with such difference of resources. Simeone has been a guarantee of Champions League football for Atletico since arriving, but with the grass always greener on the other side, there is a portion of the Rojiblanco support that wonder whether another manager might be able to mount more of a challenge to the big two.
