Silly season is under way and it didn't take long for the media to already make up rumours regarding possible departures. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated with the happenings during the transfer window. It opens on July 1 and closes almost two months later on August 31. This should be a pretty interesting one considering the amount of uncertainity regarding our key players. Atlético didn't enter UEFA Champions League despite Cholo Simeone's tremendous record which included 19 wins, 7 draws and only five losses. The boys were superb in the UEFA Europa League-run (and broke a new European record with the most wins in a row, 12 as a matter of fact) but just couldn't reach the finest of club tournaments because the short squad didn't manage to hold things together in the crucial moments in Primera División.

There were also quite a few problematic fixtures where Simeone and his staff didn't have a lot of time to recuperate his players after tough games in Europe because RFEF wanted to boost their ratings in Asia.

The most important thing right now is to keep everyone together and I'm sure Cholo knows this. He's already had a bad experience with the management of River Plate who sold all of their stars and have since been in an institutional crisis. In football though, we all know money talks..and Atlético have got huge debts which also applies to our majority shareholder Miguel Ángel Gil Marín. They board will be trying to do their outmost in order to keep the best players, however, it's never a guarantee and it's awfully long until next season starts.

ARCHIVO DE RUMORES

14.05.2012: €15 million + El Niño for El Tigre.

PLANTILLA

Thibaut Courtois (30.06.2012)
Sergio Asenjo (30.06.2013)

Sílvio (30.06.2016)
Juanfran (30.06.2015)
João Miranda (30.06.2014)
Luis Perea (30.06.2012)
Diego Godín (30.06.2015)
Álvaro Domínguez (30.06.2013)
Filipe Luís (30.06.2015)
Antonio López (30.06.2012)

Mario Suárez (30.06.2013)
Tiago Mendes (30.06.2013)
Paulo Assunção (30.06.2013)
Gabi (30.06.2015)
Koke (30.06.2016)
Fran Mérida (30.06.2014)
Diego Ribas (30.06.2012)
Arda Turan (30.06.2015)
Eduardo Salvio (30.06.2015)

Adrián López (30.06.2015)
Radamel Falcao (30.06.2016)
Pizzi (30.06.2012)

ENTRENADOR

Diego Simeone (30.06.2013)

JUGADORES CEDIDOS

Borja González (30.06.2012)
Rubén Pérez (30.06.2013)
Joel Robles (30.06.2014)
Jorge Pulido (30.06.2014)
Diego Costa (30.06.2014)
Raúl García (30.06.2014)
Leandro Cabrera (30.06.2014)
Rúben Micael (30.06.2016)

OPCIÓN DE COMPRA

Cedric Mabwati (30.06.2012)
Dani Pacheco (30.06.2012)

Ok, this is a place we usually end up losing points or games in..but the players will have to make a final sacrifice in order to get the three points and hope for a miracle in Málaga from Sporting. Arda is suspended and won't be playing tonight which means Salvio is in the starting line-up. Otherwise it's the same line-up that won us Europa League in Bucharest with the exception of Mario being benched (most likely due to being exhausted) and Gabi will make Tiago company in the centre of our midfield. This could also be Falcao's and Diego's last game with Atlético as you never know without our management but let's hope it isn't and we do the unexpected tonight.



Diego López; Mario, Zapata, Musacchio, J Costa; Bruno, Marchena, Senna; Borja; Hernan Pérez, Marco Ruben

Oh dear oh dear, 4th spot right in your hands, cos' you play Malaga at home next week, if you won tonight and beat them next week and Malaga lost tonight at Nou Camp you would be 4th come last match-day.

Conceded a last minute equaliser.

Dear oh dear. :palm:

Gotta hurt this result, you had 4th right in your hands.

Important game. First and foremost; we need to win this game. Three points is what'll keep our Champions League dreams alive, especially as Levante got a win against Granada earlier tonight and they've got a fairly easy schedule left. Atlético have to continue winning their games and hope the other teams ahead of them will be losing points. Diego's had some issues with his foot after Soldado's crazy tackle at Mestalla on Thursday but he should be fit and ready to play against Betis, at least according to Simeone. The most interesting thing is that Simeone's decided to take Oliver Torres with him, a player that pretty much all English clubs have been sniffing around the past year, Ferguson even sent his own brother to watch our Juvenil A-team that won the league earlier this year. He's only 17 years old and is a playmaker, can play in the more advanced of the two midfield positions which he does for Spain's U19's. Good job by Carlos Aguilera to give him a professional contract at the start of this season because of his potential. Hopefully he gets a bit of time on the pitch.

The other good news is that Courtois will most likely continue another year at the club. Meanwhile, it also seems Fran Mérida, Pizzi and Paulo Assunção will all leave in the summer, same goes for Asenjo who's chances of playing are limited.

As the season goes towards it's end, the games become even more important than usual. Atlético is currently sitting six points away from the fourth and final Champions League-spot, so the boys need to record a win when Espanyol visit Vicente Calderón in less than 20 minutes. Málaga will be playing Osasuna in Pamplona tomorrow, so they could end up losing points while Sevilla-Levante ended in a 1-1-draw yesterday night. This also gives Atlético the chance of closing in on the Europa League-spots if Champions League wouldn't be possible to reach. Cholo's made three changes from the team that played Valencia on Thursday night. We'll be seeing Godín at CB alongside Domínguez while Tiago takes Mario's spot in the starting eleven. Salvio plays instead of Adrián who's in need of a break after playing non-stop for quite some time now. I do hope Salvio can be utilized more as a striker, although we'll most likely see him start as a winger. That position, as a winger, doesn't really suit him well. He's much better closer to goal because of his goalthreat.

Espanyol is unchanged with the exception of Weiss, who'll be replaced by Coutinho because of his injury problems. Look out for Sergio García who's been in very good form as of late, same goes for Verdú and Coutinho on his day is always a threat.

Atlético: Courtois; Juanfran, Godín, Domínguez, Filipe Luís; Tiago, Gabi; Salvio, Diego, Arda; Falcao

Espanyol: Cristián Álvarez; Javi López, Raúl Rodríguez, Héctor Moreno, Dídac; Raúl Baena, Romaric; Sergio García, Verdú, Coutinho; Kalu Uche