He saw it away Athletic that which has already been achieved. The classification for the next edition of the Champions League, which reached mathematically last Saturday, after the victory against the Betis at Wanda Metropolitano. The break in the competition came with Atlético sixth in the table. A proposal from the FederationEven those days when it was believed that due to the pandemic it could not be resumed, it left the rojiblancos out of the competition, guided by the classification at that time, that sixth place. It was when LaLiga returned when the CEO of Atlético, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, agreed with the staff a premium of six million for that objective, the Champions.
There are still two days to go, which will be played this Thursday and Sunday, but, as written, the rojiblanca squad has already reached that classification, although what remains to be settled on the two missing dates is the final place of the rojiblancos. If third, position he currently occupies, or fourth, Sevilla's position, tied on points (66) but whom Atlético surpasses in the overall goal average (the two games in which they met ended 1-1 in the Pizjuán and 2-2 in Madrid).
Since 2018, the classification differences between one position and another have been blurred, beyond the honor of being podium or not, as both are direct doors to the group stage and, not like until then, that the fourth in the table had to dispute previous Champions League while the third did not. Those seven consecutive seasons (eight already with this one) of Simeone qualifying Atlético for the Champions League are the reinforced concrete from which the foundations of the club's current economic stability are made.
Miguel Ángel Gil Marín has been very aware of the campus, leading fraternization meals in the months before the pandemic, when Atlético had to face challenges like that of Anfield, or with talks after the break, when his presence in the pre-match training sessions at the Wanda Metropolitano established himself as a cabal that gave luck to the rojiblancos to achieve that. Get into the Champions.