ANALYSIS: The two city rivals fight it out for the Supercopa de Espana on Friday night as the Rojiblancos once again look to make light of a huge financial deficit

Real Madrid and Atletico have won six trophies apiece since 2010 - despite a vast deficit in budget and spending.

Atletico won the Europa League under Quique Sanchez Flores in 2009-2010, also missing out in the final of the Copa del Rey that same season as they lost to Sevilla, before winning the Uefa Super Cup at the beginning of 2010-11.

And since then, Diego Simeone has added another Europa League crown (in 2011-2012), another Uefa Super Cup (also in 2012), a Copa del Rey (by beating Madrid in the final at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2012-13) and a Liga title (in 2013-2014).

Madrid, meanwhile, have only just caught up with that tally over the same period. Real won three titles in as many seasons under Jose Mourinho: a Copa del Rey in 2010-11, La Liga in 2011-12 and the Spanish Supercopa in 2012-13.

His successor, Carlo Ancelotti, has also accumulated three trophies, albeit in less time, after claiming the Copa del Rey and the Champions League (defeating Atleti in the latter last May) in his debut season, before adding the Uefa Super Cup just last week with victory over Sevilla.

MADRID & ATLETI SPENDING SINCE 2009
Season

€120m
(€92.5m net)2014-15€99m
(€24m net)
€177.5m
(€59.5m net)2013-14€36m
(€-43.6m net)
€33.5m
(€0m net) 2012-13€4.5m
(€-14.85m net)
€55m
(€47m net) 2011-12€91.2m
(€5.85m net)
€89m
(€79m net) 2010-11€34.05m
(€10.15m net)
€257.4m
(€169.9m net) 2009-10€17.05m
(€-0.85m net)

TOTAL OUTLAY SINCE 2009

Time
Span

€732.4m
(€447.9m net) 2009-14€281.8m
(€-18.3m net)

Madrid may argue that they too could have won the Europa League had they been playing in the continent's second-tier competition and not in the Champions League. The only time Real reached a European final in recent seasons, however, Atletico got there too - and the Rojiblancosso very nearly won it in Lisbon last May.

Since the summer of 2009, Atleti have spent €281.8 million on player purchases.

Quite a lot over a five-year period, but in that same time the club actually recouped more: €300.1m. Even when big money has been spent, funds have been made available by the sale of some of the team's most marketable assets.

Sergio Aguero was bought for €23m and sold for €45m; Radamel Falcao arrived for €40m and left for €60m; Diego Costa came for just €1m and departed for €38m; David de Gea joined as a youngster for free and moved to Manchester United for €20m. And the list goes on. Even this summer, Atleti have spent €99m to reshape their squad, but raised €74m in player sales and further funds through loan agreements.

In that same time frame, Madrid have spent a total of €732.4 on new players, including €100m on Gareth Bale in 2013, €94m for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 and €80m to bring in James Rodriguez this summer.

Los Blancos have also recouped €284.5m over the same period and have made money with some of their sales, such as Mesut Ozil (bough for €15m and sold for €50m) and Gonzalo Higuain (signed for €12m, moved on for €40m). Others, like Kaka (who joined for €65m but left for free), however, have seen big losses and the club's net spend since 2009 stands at a massive €447.9m.

That sum could still be offset by the sale of Angel Di Maria for in excess of €60m, but the fact would remain that Madrid have spent hundreds of millions more than Atleti since 2009.

Madrid's annual budget sits at well over €500m, making them the richest club in the world, while Atletico bring in significantly less (€123m, according to the last list published by Forbes).

So, it is no wonder that Simeone continues to claim that Atletico play in a different league to Madrid and Barca.

"Atletico are not like Barcelona and Real Madrid. They have a structure that allows them to spend €80 million on one player, while we have spent about €100m in total," the Argentine told La Gazzetta dello Sport this week. "It will be hard for us to compete with them."

It is perhaps even more impressive, therefore, that Atletico have claimed as many trophies as their rich rivals over the past five years. On Friday, they can add another when the two city rivals go head to head once again in the second leg of the Supercopa de Espana.

But even if they do not come out on top at the Vicente Calderon, the fact that Atletico are even competing with sides such as Madrid is already a tremendous triumph in itself.

Source: http://naijaenvoy.com/forum2_theme_1034305.xhtml?tema=97

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