They did it the hard way but Atletico finally managed to battle their way into the Champions League - well the qualifying round at least - after a 12 year absence.

Typically Sunday’s 1-0 win over Deportivo Coruna came with the usual dose of nail-biting, wincing and stomach churning that have made the Calderon such a stressful place to be in recent seasons.

Although the dependable Diego Forlan put Atletico ahead on the stroke of halftime, the team looked to be suffering a severe bout of stage fright in the final quarter and nearly threw it away as they watched the Galicians lay siege to their goal.

So it was with a mixture of joy and relief that Atletico secured their first top four finish since they did the double back in 1996.

It is about time too as the club’s claims to be one of the “equipos grandes” had begun to wear dangerously thin following a stream of morale-sapping disappointments and false dawns.

Atletico have always been one of La Liga’s big spenders but they have developed the unfortunate knack of buying expensive and selling cheap, recruiting sought-after players who then sink without trace while watching their discards turn into world beaters at other clubs.

This season seemed set up for the usual disappointment, what with the sale of iconic striker Fernando Torres to Liverpool and a massive outlay on new players such as Forlan, Jose Antonio Reyes, Simao Sabrosa, Raul Garcia and Luis Garcia. The club then appeared to have shot themselves in the foot when they decided to sell Maniche mid-season after he fell out with coach Javier Aguirre.

But for once, other results went Atletico’s way as their immediate rivals failed to take advantage of their slip-ups. They also had the good fortune to have one Sergio Aguero in their ranks. Shielded by Aguirre in his first season at the club, the 19-year-old Argentine came into his own following the departure of Torres and thrived alongside the selfless Forlan.

Aguero has racked up 18 goals this season, while Forlan has weighed in with another 16, so that despite losing their direction in midfield following Maniche’s exit and having one of the shakiest defences in the league, Atletico held on to ensure their return to the big time.

Some of the club’s success-starved fans used Sunday’s win as an excuse to celebrate at the Neptuno fountain in the centre of Madrid, but the more experienced of the Calderon faithful kept their feet on the ground.

“Just wait until we lose in the Champions League qualifiers and don’t even end up playing in Europe next season. That will be typical Atletico,” one fan said to me when I saw him this morning.

Simon Baskett, Madrid

PHOTO: Atletico players celebrate the win against Deportivo Coruna, May 11. REUTERS/Susana Vera

After a second consecutive season without any silverware — and a humiliating 4-1 drubbing by arch-rivals by Real Madrid into the bargain – Barcelona have tried to stem the rising tide of criticism of the club by announcing that former club captain Pep Guardiola is to take charge of the team at the end of the season.

It’s quite a gamble.

Over the past two seasons, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Marco van Basten, Juande Ramos and Ernesto Valverde have all been mentioned as possible replacements for Rijkaard, but the club have rejected the tried and tested contenders and gone for old boy Guardiola, whose coaching experience amounts to nothing more than a single season in charge of the club’s reserve team Barça B.

Given his Catalan credentials and close association with Johan Cruyff’s “dream team”, the appointment of Guardiola will be welcomed by some of the Nou Camp faithful, but he is hardly the sort of figure you would expect to take charge of a big team like Barça when they’re going through a Galactico-style meltdown.

Guardiola’s appointment could be a sign that Barça now realise their attempt to pack the team with big-name players was a foolish one and that they may now try to recruit more low profile figures to replace the likes of Ronaldinho.

But it is a risky strategy to ask a coach as inexperienced as Guardiola to try and pick up the pieces, construct a new side and deliver success in his first season in the big time.

Real Madrid tried a similar approach with coaches like Mariano Garcia Remon and Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, but both ended up being turfed out as they struggled to deal with the pressure and expectation. In the end it took the experienced Fabio Capello to get the team back on their feet.

Will Guardiola prove the sceptics wrong and make a success of his first major coaching job? He’ll need time to do it, and that may not be available. Maybe it’s a healthy sign that the club has gone for a former player, hungry to make his name in coaching. Or is it a case of being too scared to appoint a coach like Mourinho, who might be too headstrong and independent? Give is your thoughts in the comments below.

FILE PHOTO: Pep Guardiola during his presentation as Barcelona B team coach in 2007. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

Two giants of European football, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich wrapped up their respective league titles with plenty of room to spare this weekend.

Real, the nine-times European champions, snatched a dramatic 2-1 win away to Osasuna in the teeming rain to clinch their 31st Spanish title.

Things were also getting soggy in Wolfsburg, after Bayern secured their 21st German league title, completed a domestic double for the third time in four seasons and celebrated by soaking each other with good Bavarian Weissbier (see photo above).

Neither side was seriously challenged on their way to their triumphs and they are both clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the domestic opposition.

But the celebrations will be that little bit more muted because neither side made their mark in Europe this season. Once again Real limped out of the Champions League in the first knockout round, while Bayern, who had to content themselves with participation in the UEFA Cup, were almost knocked out in the quarter-finals by humble Getafe and were then humiliated by Zenit St Petersburg.

What will it take for these two sides to become forces in Europe once again?

Real have not exactly been shy about buying in big names of late, while Bayern have a galactico coach coming in the shape of Juergen Klinsmann, and he will presumably want to strengthen the squad.

Would they better off sticking with what they’ve got, bringing on some youngsters and hoping to gradually build on their domestic triumphs? Or do you now need truly world class players like Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka to win the Champions League?

PHOTO: Combination of pictures showing Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld getting showered with beer by Luca Toni as they celebrate winning the German title in Wolfsburg, May 4, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

Despite seeing literally hundreds of games over the course of a season, there is the occasional match you know will stick with you forever and Thursday’s UEFA Cup quarter-final between Getafe and Bayern Munich was one of them.

It was the second Spanish-German clash I’d been to this week, having gone to the Nou Camp for the Barcelona-Schalke Champions League match the night before, but in terms of pure emotion and excitement there was absolutely no comparison. No excuses for resorting to an overused cliché because this time it is no exaggeration - this one was a real rollercoaster of a Cup tie.

From the first whistle to the last it was non-stop action and as a journalist it was one of those games where you feel like telephoning in your resignation at halftime because you don’t want to miss any of it while typing your match report which, by the way, I had to rewrite about five times.

There was something in the air that made you know it was going to be a classic and when Bayern had a goal ruled out for offside in the first minute my feelings were confirmed. Getafe had their top player Ruben de la Red sent off after six minutes and lost their most dangerous striker Ikechukwu Uche before the 20th.

But the setbacks and the deafening support of the 16,000 fans crammed into the Coliseum only served to inspire them. Cosmin Contra, the hero of the first leg with his last-minute equaliser and a veteran of Alaves’s fairytale run to the UEFA Cup final in 2001, struck a brilliant solo goal to give Getafe a deserved lead just before halftime.

But I knew it wasn’t going to be a simple giantkilling win when Getafe substitute Braulio sped clear midway through the second half, rounded Oliver Kahn and then slipped over as he was preparing to slot the ball into the empty net. True enough, in practically their only attack of the second half, Bayern equalised with just over a minute to go.

Usually you expect the smaller side to hang on for grim death in extra time and eventually fold against their more illustrious opponents or hope for penalties. But Getafe might just have been listening to my colleague Mark Elkington, who was sitting beside me commenting: “Oh dear, you don’t want to go for penalties against the Germans.”

Two quickfire goals from Javi Casquero and Braulio sent the crowd into delirium and Getafe on the way to a famous victory…except of course the dream never came true.

With five minutes to go Luca Toni pulled one back after Getafe goalkeeper Pato Abbondanzieri fumbled a simple cross and rolled it into his path.

As the crowd nervously began the countdown to the final whistle, Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn charged up into the opposition area and eventually Toni headed in. Total silence… even the Bayern fans seemed stunned.

Seconds later it was over and it was heartening to see the first reaction of many Bayern players was to go and console their opponents. Martin Demichelis put his arm round Argentine colleague Abbondanzieri, Kahn did the same. It was obvious Getafe had won the respect and admiration of the four-times European champions.

“I’ve played 140 games in the European Cup. I’ve played everywhere - Madrid, Milan, London and Barcelona - but tonight has been incredible. I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Kahn said. That comes from someone who played in the 1999 Champions League final against Manchester United remember.

“Getafe fought like madmen for 120 minutes and in these circumstances it is difficult to perform. We are obviously delighted but you have to feel for them.”

Getafe now pick themselves up for a league match at home to Real Zaragoza on Sunday and then take on Valencia in their second consecutive King’s Cup final next Wednesday.

When I went down to the mixed zone to talk to the players I had little doubt this team will be back to fight another day. With his eyes still red with tears, club captain David Belenguer made his way out of the dressing room and patiently talked to all the waiting reporters til well after 1am.

How can Getafe bounce back from this we asked? “Don’t worry,” he said. “We already have.”

Simon Baskett

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s Luca Toni heads the winner against Getafe in the UEFA Cup quater-final second leg. April 10 REUTERS/Felix Ausin Ordonez

It was with more than the usual haste that I strode off from the Nou Camp after Frank Rijkaard’s customary non-committal news conference on the eve of Barcelona’s Champions League match against Schalke on Tuesday. Liverpool against Arsenal was being shown on terrestrial TV here in Spain and it was one of those games that you didn’t want to miss.

So I settled down to my usual Reuters expenses supper of a bottle of beer and a Kit Kat from the hotel minibar and wasn’t disappointed. For sheer breathless excitement, intensity and entertainment the match couldn’t be beaten. The game had the Spanish commentators gasping with delight at the football being played by both sides, the commitment from the players and the non-stop support from the fans.

The next day the Spanish media was awash with tributes to the English game, with sports daily AS even managing to bring in an unexpected reference to Nelson and Trafalgar in their editorial on the match.

The Admiral’s famous “England expects every man to do his duty,” was the motto of English football, said the paper’s director Alfredo Relaño.

“There may have been almost no English players on the pitch, but this was pure English football,” he said. “It was open, attacking football, full of commitment, enthusiasm, risk and nobility.

“The fact that there were few English players involved showed that this sort of football has nothing to do with genetics but with the atmosphere in the English game, one of respect, fair play, solidarity and a job well done. Players who in other leagues are cheats, moaners and defensive turn into exemplary competitors in England. This is how football should be played.”

Now Alfredo may have got a little carried away with his purple prose but there is little doubt that with three sides in the Champions League semi-finals for the second year in a row England is without doubt the dominant force in European club football (See Mike Collett’s analysis and lots of other stuff on our main soccer site).

The contrast with Spanish football at the moment couldn’t be sharper. Admittedly they still have two sides in European competitions, but the quality in La Liga has undergone a worrying downturn in the last two seasons.

The patient, short-passing game favoured by so many Spanish sides is past its sell-by date. The stop-start nature of matches in the Primera Liga does little to prepare teams for the intensity of European encounters, while the players are struggling to match with the sheer physicality of English-based players.

Where the best players were once clamouring to join Spanish sides, an increasing number are now looking to England first and it isn’t just because of the money on offer. Being part of a top English club now appears to offer the best chance of success in the continent’s elite competition.

I get the impression it is the same story in other European leagues. Is there anything they can do to stop the English domination?

Simon Baskett

PHOTO: Carlos Tevez scores with a diving header to give Manchester United a 1-0 win on the night and a 3-0 aggregate victory over AS Roma in their Champions League quarter-final. Roma were Italy’s last representatives in this year’s competition, April 9. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Is Ronaldinho about to become the latest player to leave the Nou Camp by the back door?

Marca and the rest of the Madrid-based media seem convinced of it, meaning we could be about to see the former World Player of the Year following the well trodden path of such luminaries as Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Romario, Juan Roman Riquelme, Luis Figo, Hristo Stoichkov, Bernd Schuster and Maradona.

All of these players underwent the transformation from Nou Camp idol to persona non grata in a remarkably short space of time.

Maradona left for Napoli after a traumatic two-year spell at the club marked by a bout of hepatitis, a horrendous tackle by Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea, rumours of drug taking and a mass brawl after the final of the King’s Cup.

Schuster was ousted after walking out following the team’s defeat in the 1986 European Cup and a subsequent legal wrangle with the club. Romario and Stoichkov were not on speaking terms with then coach Johan Cruyff when they left the club.

Ronaldo departed at the peak of his powers after just one glorious season with the Catalans in which he racked up 34 goals in 37 matches, deciding that he would get better treatment at Inter Milan.

Luis Figo, of course, famously defected to Real Madrid after he was offered a more succulent deal by presidential candidate Florentino Perez, while Rivaldo was revered for the wonderful hat-trick that put Barca in the Champions League only to be ushered out of the side door a year later.

Other top Barcelona players such as Gary Lineker, Steve Archibald, Ivan de la Peña and Patrick Kluivert could all have left under better circumstances. Ronaldinho’s career at Barcelona appears to be following a depressingly familiar line.

Having guided Barcelona to two league titles and victory in the Champions League in his first three seasons at the club he is now being accused of failing to pull his weight.

Fitness problems, no-shows at training, a series of below-par performances on the pitch and rumours about late nights have all served to tarnish his reputation. Some of the local media even say that Barca will be prepared to let him leave on a free transfer at the end of the season, while the latest stories suggest he could exercise FIFA’s article 17 and buy himself out of the contract for a song.

It is hard to believe that only two seasons ago he was the most sought-after player on the planet. What is it about Barcelona’s tendency to devour its own sons?

We asked at the start of this season whether it was time Barcelona let Ronadinho go, and the consensus was that it would be too great a loss for the club. I wonder how many people have changed their minds.

Simon Baskett, Madrid

PHOTO: Ronaldinho reacts during the Atletico Madrid-Barcelona match in Madrid, March 1. REUTERS/Susana Vera

It is has already been dubbed the league title no one wants to win and with its succession of mishaps, slip-ups, fall-outs and injuries, this season’s Primera Liga plot has taken more twists than even the most low-budget Spanish afternoon soap opera.

Leaders and defending champions Real Madrid appear to be caught in a dangerous downward spiral, losing five of their last eight league matches, while Barcelona are struggling to take advantage of their arch-rivals’ errors.

Although they closed to within four points of Real at the top of the table after their flattering 4-1 win over Valladolid at the weekend, the Catalans have won just one of their last four games and continue to look unsettled and nervy when they take to the pitch.

Real, meanwhile, managed to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory against Valencia, losing out thanks to an 89th minute breakaway goal from former Atletico Madrid forward Angel Arizmendi.

Marca’s leading football correspondent Santiago Segurola described the match as an example of a new footballing genre called “epicomedia” - an unexpected reaction caused by a mixture of the epic and the comic.

The epic element came from Real’s frantic attempts to win the game by throwing everyone forward and peppering the Valencia goal with shots in the final 10 minutes. The comedy came from their defending, with Fabio Cannavaro conceding an unnecessary penalty and badly misjudging his attempt to stop Arizmendi before he snatched the win.

Barca should be rubbing their hands in delight at Real’s predicament, but instead they are suffering their own crisis of confidence. Defeat in the semi-finals of the King’s Cup at the hands of Valencia, speculation about a possible fall-out between Rijkaard and Ronaldinho, the absence through injury of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry’s failure to settle and continued defensive frailty mean that the Catalans appear as vulnerable as Real.

The weaknesses of the top two should have thrown the door open to more challengers, but of all the other possible contenders only Villarreal have managed to stay in the title race.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are on a four-match winning streak, but they hardly set the world alight with their late 2-1 win at basement side Levante on Sunday.

The league title is there for the taking, but who will eventually triumph - an anxious Real, an unhinged Barcelona or an unfancied Villarreal?

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Pepe gestures during their defeat by Valencia at the Bernabeu, March 23, 2008. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Spain’s likely performance at Euro 2008 remains an enigma but one thing that can be guaranteed is that Luis Aragones will step down as coach at the end of the tournament.

The grand old man of Spanish football has made it clear that he will be going at the end of June, a month before his 70th birthday, and after four turbulent years at the helm there will many who will be heaving a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere in Spanish football is tense enough without having a figure like Aragones as its most high-profile international representative. From the moment he took charge after the last European Championship, he has never been far away from controversy. From his derogatory comments about Thierry Henry, to his intermittent threats to quit, his decision to exclude Raul or his tendency to fly off the handle during news conferences, Aragones has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Brusque, outspoken and at times inadvertently comic, Aragones comes from the same mould as two recent predecessors Jose Antonio Camacho and Javier Clemente. But the word is that after his departure, the Federation will appoint former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque.

While Aragones resembles a bad-tempered, somewhat eccentric grandfather, Del Bosque is like a kindly uncle, a model of diplomacy, politeness and sportsmanship.

The moustachioed 57-year-old also oversaw his former club during their most successful period since the late 1950s. In a little over three years, he steered his team to two Champions Leagues, two league titles, the World Club Cup, the European Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.

Florentino Perez’s decision to discard Del Bosque the day after the team won the league title in 2003 and a week after they signed David Beckham is widely seen as one of the prime reasons for the galactico meltdown that followed. Whereas Del Bosque managed to control a dressing room packed full of the biggest egos in the game with disarming ease, a string of successors were driven to distraction by the challenge. And the club did not win another trophy until Fabio Capello arrived on the scene four years later.

Del Bosque does, of course, have his critics. Perez said his methods were too old-fashioned and hinted that his dry, deadpan delivery and stoical Castilian image did not fit into his plans to develop the club’s global image. His only subsequent coaching job at Besiktas ended in failure and he has displayed little enthusiasm to renew his career at a club.

On the other hand you will never hear a bad word said against Del Bosque by any of his former players or colleagues and he is widely respected in the game. The Spanish Federation’s sporting director Fernando Hierro, who was purged from Real at the same time as Del Bosque, is reported to be the driving force behind the decision to appoint him.

Could Del Bosque’s safe pair of hands be just what Spain now needs?

PHOTO: Del Bosque parades the European Cup back in Madrid after Real’s final victory over Bayer Leverkusen in 2002. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

It is difficult to exaggerate just how big a blow it is for Real Madrid to stumble out of the Champions League in the first knockout round for a fourth year in a row. The club measures its success not in terms of league titles but of its nine European Cups and yet another failure in the continent’s elite competition will take a heavy toll.

At the end of last season, Real president Ramon Calderon sacked Fabio Capello after the Italian ended the club’s four-year trophy drought by bringing the league title to the Bernabeu. The reason Calderon gave for the decision was that Capello’s team had failed to excite the fans with their style of football and had disappointed in Europe.

Few could argue with the Real supremo’s decision while the side were riding high in the league and still in with a chance of winning a 10th European crown. Only a few weeks ago, Calderon said Real had “the best squad in the world”, that there was “no room for Kaka in this team” and that the team was “playing like a machine”.

Since then Real have been knocked out of the King’s Cup, had their lead in the league sliced from nine points to five and been ousted from the Champions League by a ruthlessly efficient Roma. They have lost five of their last seven matches in all competitions.

The team’s over-reliance on keeper Iker Casillas and striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has become all too apparent, while their inconsistent performances in midfield and at the back are a cause of real concern.

To make matters worse coach Bernd Schuster has fallen out with the media.

The German’s sarcastic responses in news conferences, his criticisms of referees, and a recent walk-out after a league match in Huelva have won him few friends and many in the media are busy sharpening their knives.

Schuster responded to a question from one journalist on Wednesday about how he felt after the team’s elimination from the King’s Cup and the Champions League, by glaring at the reporter and saying, “Me, I feel fine.” Asked for his view on the match he replied, “For me it was not a defeat. We deserved to go through.”

Those responses are hard to fathom. Real were comprehensively outplayed by a sharper, hungrier Roma side at the Bernabeu. They may be good enough to win the Primera Liga again this season, but that won’t be enough for the weary fans I saw streaming out of the stadium before the final whistle on Wednesday.

All of which brings me to my final point.

For some years now the Primera Liga has laid claim to the title of best league in the world. Real and Barcelona’s victories in the Champions League and their clubs’ performances in the UEFA Cup provided strong support for their assertion. But this time round they have only one side in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup and for the second season in a row they have just one team in the last eight of the Champions League.

The favoured Spanish style of slow, patient build-up play has passed its sell-by date. Too many players and coaches confuse possession with danger, while opponents who play on the break are criticised as if they were adopting some sort of underhand tactic. Few Primera Liga sides possess the pace, verve and dynamism of sides like Roma, Arsenal and Manchester United. Surely they will have to change before they can reclaim their place amongst the continental elite?

PHOTO: Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas reacts during the Champions League defeat by Roma, March 5, 2008. REUTERS/Susana Vera

You may remember a post I did on Lionel Messi’s habit of emulating goals from the footballing greats.

Last season the lank-haired Barcelona forward added his own versions of Maradona’s World Cup double against England in 1986 and Zidane’s Champions League winning volley to his collection.

Well, he’s done it again according to Spanish sports daily Marca. His decisive strike in his side’s 3-2 win over Celtic on Wednesday was, they say, a copy of one of Ferenc Pukas’s classic efforts in Hungary’s legendary 6-3 demolition of Wembley in 1953.

I’ve looked at both and there is little doubt that Puskas’s the better goal. The build-up is fantastic - even if the players look as though they are moving in slow motion - and anyone who can produce that sort of close control with a ball that had all the characteristics of a sack of potatoes deserves huge credit.

It’s true the Messi drag-back that beats Celtic defender Lee Naylor is reminiscent of the Hungarian’s footwork when he floors Billy Wright. But instead of wallowing in nostalgia I’m just going to sit back and look forward to Messi’s next goal. Maybe he’ll start taking requests.

PHOTO: Messi celebrates his second goal at Celtic Park, February 20, 2008. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne