Atlético, before a final that will mark the present and the future

Atlético is playing a lot tomorrow in Austria. It is not only seen or not in eighths, but that the final against Salzburg will also mark the project, because a defeat would be a stick for some accounts already beaten by the crisis of the pandemic. The club has accumulated a good bag just for playing the Champions League, but tomorrow there is more on the table: to begin with, 2.7 million from the game itself, plus 9.5 from the second round. Plus the option to keep moving forward. Y the strength that comes from being in it top 16 with regard to sponsors, market pool… And without counting what it would mean to be able to put spectators in the Wanda Metropolitano in the qualifying rounds, an unlikely option for now. Between one thing and another, a KO at Red Bull Arena would mean stopping at least 25 million, maybe much more.

The entity has already entered about 52.7 million euros in this group stage. A first amount of 15.25 is for participating, another 5.4 for the results (one win and three draws) and 32.1 more for the UEFA coefficient of recent years, for which Atlético is the club that receives the most . In the past season, for sports performance (he reached the quarters) reached € 77.2M. There you can already see a notable difference, comparing only with direct payments from the competition. In 2018-19, eliminated in the round of 16, he reached 85.6 million, counting the bonuses for results and the final distribution of the television market (the market pool).

Being in the elite allows access to cracks like Suárez

Atlético has established its sporting and social project by seeing itself year after year competing in the great European tournament, which gives much more money than the Europa League. On the other hand, there is the fact that being a Champions team allows you to convince better players to join, see Luis Suárez, and better sponsors. Because in 2020 the economic issue takes on vital importance.

The forecast is that the budget will drop from 515 million to about 400So staying as long as possible in European competition is a requirement. Of course, it is to finish in the league in the top four, although in that sense the goal is well on track. So, for all this, Salzburg is the first big finale of the season.