It is 33 years since Futre's debut with Atlético

All the clubs have their idols. Players who have been part of its history for different reasons and who are remembered by fans as an important part of the club. In the case of Atlético there are many examples: Luis Aragonés, Adelardo, Gárate, Kiko, Fernando Torres, Godín, etc.. A player who left his mark on the entity in the years that he was part of it was Futre and today is an anniversary. And is that on August 30 (33 years ago) he was visited for the first time as a mattress in an official match. It was at the Vicente Calderón stadium and the rival was Sabadell in the first league match of the 1987-88 season. The Portuguese was part of the starting eleven and was on the grass 68 minutes, being replaced by Eusebio. The hosts took the victory 1-0 with a penalty from López Ufarte in the 5th minute.

That game was the beginning of an eternal relationship between the Manzanares entity and the Portuguese. Futre's arrival at the club was a real event. The player, born in 1966, was formed in the quarry of Sporting de Lisboa, where it remained until in 1984 he signed for another club in the country, Porto. In ‘O Dragao’ It was three seasons in which it reaped several titles, the most important of which is 1986-87 European Cup. With the vitola of continental champion, Futre landed at Atlético as the electoral promise of Jesús Gil. He was 21 years old and he was the great rojiblanca hope to make a qualitative leap to the team. In his first season as a rojiblanco, the mattress team finished the domestic championship in third position, three points from Real Sociedad and 14 from Real Madrid. Also, that year he was named Silver Ball, being considered the second best player in Europe behind the Dutch Gullit, from Milan, and ahead of Emilio Butragueño, from Real Madrid.

During his first stage at Atlético, how hard six years, Futre won with the colchoneros two King's Cups (1990-91 and 1991-92). In the first They defeated Mallorca 1-0 with a goal in Alfredo's extra time in the final played at the Santiago Bernabéu. In the second, also disputed in the merengue fiefdom, the rival was precisely Real Madrid and the victory was for the rojiblancos by 2-0 thanks to a goal from Schuster and another from the Portuguese. As for the national league championship, the highest they reached during Futre's time was to be runners-up in the 1990-91 campaign, remaining 10 points behind Barcelona.

At the conclusion of the 1992-93 season, Futre packed his bags after having played 182 games among all competitions with Atlético in which he scored 46 goals. He returned to his country, this time to play for Benfica. In the middle of the season he changed teams and signed for Olympique de Marseille in France. From that moment on he began to wander the continent, passing through Italian Reggiana and Milan and English West Ham, not staying in any of them for more than one course.

In the 1997-98 campaign, the prodigal son returned. Futre decided to go home and join Atlético again. I was 31 years old and the saying 'second parts were never good' made good, since he barely played 10 league games, in which failed to score any goal.

After the season ends, chose to take his last steps in football in Japan, specifically at the Yokohama Flugels. A year later he hung up his boots and in 2000 he returned to the club, but to play the role of sports director Of the entity. Was in office until 2003, when he definitively disassociated himself from Atlético, although will always remain in the hearts of the mattress fans after playing 192 games in his two spells at the club.