1. Revenue
ATLETICO MADRID MANAGER Diego Simeone once said that the budget of a football club disappears once the referee starts the match – all is equal after kick-off.
Despite the former Argentinean international claims, the figures reveal what a huge achievement it would be for Los Rojiblancos, should they lift the European Cup tonight.
Forbes’ annual list of the world’s most valuable teams has Real Madrid top of the list for the fourth consecutive year, compare this to their local rivals Atletico who are ranked 15th and worth a fraction of Los Blancos.
Atletico Madrid are estimated to be worth approximately $633 million, but this figure is dwarfed by Real Madrid who are calculated to be valued at $3.6 billion. A closer look at the figures show that Real Madrid’s annual revenue stands at $694 million, more than three times than that of Atleti at $225 million.
2. Transfers
Mainly driven by their Galácticos period, Real Madrid have broken the world transfer record on five separate occasions since 2000 with Luis Figo, Zinedaine Zidane, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale all arriving at the Bernabeu for eye-watering money.
Compare this to Atletico Madrid who have for one reason or another, been forced to sell the attacking talent of Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao, Mario Mandzukic, Diego Costa and Arda Turan in recent seasons.
3. Squads
Although Diego Simeone will have a host of stars to pick from for the final in Milan, with the likes of Fernando Torres and Antoine Griezmann, the Atletico Madrid squad has still been assembled for a third of the cost of Real Madrid.
The Atleti squad was put together for approximately €170 million, just the €400 million less than Real. In fact, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale together cost more than the whole of Simeone’s squad.
4. Honours
Nobody has won more European Cups than Real Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane’s side will go into tonight’s final looking for their 11th European Cup, with their last triumph in Europe coming in 2014 against their city rivals.
Defeat for Atletico in 2014 was there second defeat in a European Cup final having also lost their only other final in 1974 against Bayern Munich. However, they have won the Europa League twice in recent seasons in 2010 and again in 2012.
It’s not just in Europe that Real Madrid have dominated.
Nobody has won more Spanish titles than Real Madrid winning the Spanish league on 32 occasions. Atletico last won La Liga on a dramatic final day in 2014 to be champions of Spain for just the 10th time – coincidentally the same number of wins they have in the Copa del Rey, but yet again that is nine short of Real Madrid’s tally of 19.
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