What happened to Martin Petrov? The Bulgarian bullet of Atlético and City

To speak of Martin Petrov is to speak of speed, electricity and a left foot that, on his good nights, delighted the fan. The history of the Bulgarian is one of many where a serious injury, possibly at the most decisive moment of his career, prevented seeing the splendor of the footballer who was having his best nights at Atlético. The red-and-white team felt their fantastic start to the 2006-07 season as in a week in October, that of the illusion overwhelmed by the arrival of Kun Agüero to form a forward with Fernando Torres, was going to the fret with the consecutive injuries of Maxi Rodríguez and Martin Petrovwith broken cruciate ligament paths in the left knee with little time to complain between one and the other.

To know the beginnings of Petrov (15-01-1979) it is necessary to back to his native Vratsa. The Bulgarian grew up with a ball at his feet and the Botev Vratsa was quick to pick him up and begin to mold his unusual acceleration, speed and striking. In the 1995-96 season, while Atlético won their historic Double in Spain, in Bulgaria, CSKA Sofia moved to win one of the country’s great sensations, a still minor Petrov. He would wear the jersey of the capital team for two and a half seasons, until UEFA became a huge showcase for the player in the 1998-99 campaign.

From Switzerland to Wolfsburg

After eliminate Belarusian Belshina and Norwegian Molde, it was Servette’s turn. The scouts of the Swiss team, with Gérard Castella in the lead, They were celebrating not having Petrov in front of them in the first leg due to suspension, but they had already fallen in love with his game on the trips to study the rival. And on the return leg they faced a great version of the Bulgarian, a key piece for come from behind with a 1-0 win in Sofia (2-1 first leg). It was the litmus test that led Servette to launch for his signing in that same winter market. Before, Petrov would still have time to face Atlético himself, falling injured in the first leg after 33 minutes. where the rojiblancos prevailed 2-4 (double by Kiko and goals by Torrisi and Roberto Fresnedoso) and was able to see Vicente Calderón first-hand in which Atlético did not give options and a Juninho penalty goal ended all hope for the visitors.

Petrov left Bulgaria, advised, among others, by Stoichkchev, and He managed to leave his name in the history of Servette despite being only two and a half seasons. In 1999-00, he became Swiss league champion with a leading role as the Bulgarian, alternating presence as left winger and second striker and approaching ten goals. A year later his figures would improve, a growth that did not go unnoticed and the feeling that Switzerland was beginning to be too small for him. The Bundesliga, always attentive (for example, Matheus Cunha also left Switzerland for Germany), knocked on their door and Wolfsburg wanted to avoid any bid in the summer signing him with still four months to play.

Petrov recognized at the time that “I only know that the coach is called Wolfgang Wolf and that they have three Poles and a Croat, Tomislav Maric, who could facilitate my integration. For me, Wolfsburg has certain similarities with Servette. It is an ambitious club, which aims at Europe, but does not put pressure on the Champions League”. Combining the study of German with the end of the course in Switzerland, his arrival at Wolfsburg uncovered all his talent, adding to his overflow and dribbling an enormous voracity in front of goal. For many, his presentation in the great European football was that 2001-02 season, with eight goals in 37 games that already began to attract attention throughout Europe. He would not be so in tune in his second year, with certain muscle injuries and a strong character who sometimes played tricks on him. Also an irregularity that accompanied him for the rest of his career.

But, the 2003-04 campaign made it clear again that he was a differential player and an extraordinary striker, with a cannon in his left foot. After scoring eight goals in 24 league games, plus another three in Intertoto, Petrov defended Bulgaria at the European Championship in Portugal. A team with differential players, like himself Martin Petrov, Stiliyan Petrov on special Dimitar Berbatov, but that could not add any point in a group stage against Sweden (5-0), Denmark (0-2) and Italy (1-2), getting the own Martin Petrov the only goal of his selection in the tournament and disputing 265 of his 270 minutes.

An injury cut short his best version of roijblanco

His last full year in Germany served him to be named Bundesliga revelation player. Unstoppable in the race and accurate in the definition, his 12 goals in 29 league games caught the attention of Atlético, but also from Barcelona and Bayern, used to fishing in their rivals for the title. On December 3, 2004, AS exclusively announced that Toni Muñoz wanted to close the incorporation of Petrov to give bite and hit Atlético. The operation dragged on Wolfsburg made it official in the summer through its website that it had rejected an offer from the rojiblanco club estimated at six million. Bayer Leverkusen was also in the bidding, but the player looked very favorably on the option of landing in Spain. So much so that Petrov came to propose his resignation to pocket 15% of the transfer as a commission in exchange for traveling to Madrid. Finally, and with the Bundesliga already started (Petrov had scored two goals in Intertoto), Atlético raised the figure to 10 million, at that time a very important amount for the club, and Wolfsburg ended up accepting the payment guarantees.

In his first year as a rojiblanco, that irregularity appeared, where he alternated stellar performances with ill-advised games and very disappeared on the left wing. His games against Barcelona were a good example of an old-fashioned winger, sticking to the lime, dribbling, speeding towards his natural leg and becoming a nightmare for the rival full-back. At that time, Atlético had taken the measure of a Blaugrana team that was League champion, but could not add any points against the colchoneros. Petrov participated in the 2-1 draw at Vicente Calderón, with a trademark assist for Torres, and in the 1-3 draw at Camp Nou giving the goal pass to Maxi. Sent off against Sevilla, he ended up participating in 36 league games, 31 of them as a starter.

After that first year of adaptation, the start of the 2006-07 academic year promised great performances by Petrov. More adapted to the language, the competition and LaLiga, It was indisputable for Javier Aguirre, who placed him in eleven in the first six days and excited with a great performance in San Mamés in a 1-4 where the Bulgarian scored his second as much as Atlético and Agüero the first. However, in that sixth match, misfortune struck Petrov. On October 14, 2006, 38 minutes into the match against Recreativo, his knee crackedas had happened a week before with Maxi in La Condomina with the Argentine team and Atlético were left without their two mainstays on the wings. Operated at the same time, in the case of the Bulgarian with an 8% tear in the external meniscus (a type T4 arthroscopy was performed with goose foot tendons), the two players formed a great relationship during his parallel recoveryspending hours and hours of rehabilitation together.

They would come back almost at par, but in Petrov’s case, such an explosive player felt his physical limitation more deeply. The goal against Espanyol in the second game back, 27 games after that fateful night against Recre, would alleviate the bad times, but his rope at Atlético had been shortening until he said goodbye the following summer. After the departure of Torres, the rojiblanco club had remodeled its squad with very powerful arrivals such as Forlán, Simao, Reyes, Luis García or Raúl García and the almost 4.7 million pounds (about seven million euros) that Manchester City put on the table were a relief for the club’s accounts. Petrov said goodbye at the age of 28 after playing 52 games for Atletico, scoring three goals and leaving the painful impression that the serious injury had cut off all his progression at the moment of greatest regularity and symbiosis with the stands, which vibrated with his gallops with spaces.

If that Atlético was far from the current one, Manchester City was even more so. A team with little weight in the Premier and without big names in which Petrov fitted an important role, with five goals in his first season in the English league. He would add two more courses in Manchester before leaving for Bolton in 2010. There, in his second year, he completed the relegation to the second division and Javier Aguirre knocked on his door again in January 2013 to bring him back to LaLiga. Petrov played for six months at Espanyol, with a return to the Vicente Calderón in which he received a good reception from the fans in a close game for the locals with a goal from Falcao, before returning to Bulgaria to hang up his boots. The 2013-14 season was Petrov’s last in active service, at CSKA Sofia who had seen him take his leap of maturity.

Although, looking at the current Petrov, few would say that he has been retired for so long. Alternating periods in Majadahonda with stages in his native country, Petrov fell in love with Spain and Atlético despite the fact that he only participated for two seasons with the team. He is a regular at CrossFit sessions in the Madrid town and an asiduo at the Wanda Metropolitano. In fantastic form, he can also be seen participating in veterans’ matches, in commentary and at events of the Bulgarian football federation. A Petrov who lived another stage of Atlético and City, far from the titles and the European spotlight. The Bulgarian bullet whose wings were cut off by an injury in his second season as a rojiblanco.