The prospect of seeing Sergio “Kun” Aguero pulling on a blue shirt next season instead of the red and white stripes of Atletico Madrid must be a mouthwatering one for any Chelsea fan.

The 21-year-old Argentina striker, nicknamed “Kun” after a Japanese cartoon character with a similar hairstyle, showed why he remains a target for top clubs when he came off the bench and scored two superb goals in the 2-2 draw at the Calderon on Tuesday.

Cash-strapped Atletico turned down offers for him over the close season including, reportedly, one of around 35 million euros from Chelsea. His contract includes a buyout clause worth 60 million.

The London club are waiting to hear the result of their appeal against FIFA’s transfer ban and could make another move for Aguero either in the January transfer window or next summer.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said this week he could see Aguero playing alongside Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba but added that he thought it would be hard for Chelsea to snare the Argentine.

The contrasting playing styles of the pair were evident on Tuesday.

Aguero, with his low centre of gravity, is hard to shake off the ball and is at his best running at defenders. On his day he is a deadly finisher, as Barcelona found out to their cost last season.

Drogba is all about muscle, which he used to good effect on Tuesday when he outjumped the Atletico defence to score a header and then bulldozed his way through to net a second.

Aguero fathered a son, Benjamin, with Diego Maradona’s daughter Giannina in February and Maradona, who is also Aguero’s boss as Argentina coach, advised him last year to seek a move to Inter Milan.

Atletico, 18th in La Liga after nine matches with just one win, are almost certain to miss out on a Champions League spot for next season, making it much more likely Aguero will move on from the Spanish capital.

PHOTO: Atletico Madrid’s Sergio “Kun” Aguero (L) scores with a free kick against Chelsea, Nov 3, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina

A few days ago, Real Zaragoza president Eduardo Bandres said: “The Spanish league will be a matter totally and absolutely between two teams, among other things because the system for distributing television rights determines that it will be this way. It is unique in Europe and because of this the Spanish league is one of the most boring in Europe.”

The television channels would beg to differ, as they regularly run adverts or open their coverage of matches from La Liga claiming it is the ‘best league in the world’ with clips of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi running in the background.

But Bandres has a point. Five games in, and the table has an all-too familiar look about it. There are only two clubs left with a 100 percent record – Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Who has scored the most goals? Real and Barca with 16 apiece.

Who has conceded the fewest? Real with two. Barca have let in three.

Which clubs have the most money? Real and Barca are both working on budgets of over 400 million euros, three to four times greater than their nearest rivals. They rake in around half of the money earned from La Liga’s television rights, which are not negotiated on a collective basis.

At least Valencia’s David Villa bucks the trend in the individual goal-scoring charts, topping the rankings with six, but second behind him with five each are Ibrahimovic, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

There are four clubs expected to be mixing it at the top and competing for Spain’s other two Champions League qualification places: Sevilla, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.

Atletico and Villarreal are in the bottom three without a win from their opening matches, and are already 12 and 13 points adrift of Real and Barca respectively. Valencia have slipped down to seventh without a win in their last three outings.

Only Sevilla are putting up a fight, and they lie third with 12 points from a possible 15. They have a squad that boasts Frederic Kanoute, Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo up front, with the likes of Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and Diego Perotti providing the bullets.

They have won six on the trot in all competitions and will provide Real Madrid with their stiffest test yet when Manuel Pellegrini’s side visit the Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday. As things stand, this is Real’s most difficult league clash of the season outside of their home and away battles with Barca.

A victory for Sevilla could signal the start of a genuine challenge from the Andalucians, and add some much needed spice to the title race. A defeat would leave more people agreeing with Bandres.

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Real Madrid, May 2, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina

You are guaranteed goals when Barcelona take on Atletico Madrid each season, and Saturday’s encounter at the Nou Camp was no exception as the European champions romped to a 5-2 victory.

Barca were 4-0 up within 41 minutes after goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi, Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita, before Atletico pulled one back through Sergio Aguero.

Diego Forlan made it 4-2 late on but any thoughts of a late rally disappeared when an inspired Messi grabbed his second at the end.

Whereas most managers think Rorke’s Drift or the Alamo when they go the Nou Camp, Atletico coach Abel Resino went to trade blows with Barca, lining up five attacking players ahead of one holding midfielder.

Their goal was guarded by reserve keeper Roberto, who was making only his second first-team appearance – the first having been four years ago.

Xavi has described Pep Guardiola as a football romantic for his attacking ideals, and perhaps Resino falls into the same category. But his ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ perhaps owed more to history than good sense.

He could have looked back to their previous meeting at the Calderon last February. When his side fell two goals behind he threw caution to the wind, and the team came back to win 4-3 with a last minute goal from Aguero.

Recent meetings have been littered with goals.

In January, Barca knocked Atletico out of the King’s Cup 5-2 on aggregate, and at the Nou Camp for the first meeting of last season Barcelona trounced Javier Aguirre’s team 6-1.

Two years ago, it was a similar story. Ronaldinho scored his last ever goal for Barcelona with a spectacular overhead kick at the Calderon only for Atletico to storm back and win 4-2. At the Nou Camp, Barca ran out 3-0 winners.

Three years ago, Barcelona smashed six past Atletico without reply in the Calderon after having drawn 1-1 earlier in the season.

Four years ago, Fernando Torres scored three as Atletico did the double over the eventual league and European champions with 2-1 and 3-1 victories.

Anyone got tickets for Barcelona’s visit to the Calderon in February?

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Leo Messi (L) is tackled by Atletico Madrid’s Pablo Ibanez during their Spanish First Division soccer match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona September 19, 2009. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

Jose Antonio Reyes has some work to do to win over Atletico Madrid’s hardcore fans judging by the reception he received on Tuesday, when he came on as a late substitute at the Calderon in their 2-0 Champions League play-off win over Panathinaikos.

The tie was already over by the time Reyes was called up to replace Simao with four minutes left — Atletico won the away leg 3-2 — but he was met with a barrage of whistles from around the stadium.

“Reyes! Fuera del Calderon!” (Reyes! Leave the Calderon!) was the chant that came up from Atletico’s radical ‘Frente’ fans behind the goal opposite where I was sitting.

Spanish media also reported fans shouting “Reyes! Hijo de Puta! Muerete!” (Reyes! Son of a whore! Die!) and other abuse.

His first touch was understandably tentative, though a surging run soon after had some fans around me standing and applauding, while others continued to whistle.

Why this treatment? Well he was bought from city rivals Real Madrid after helping them win the Primera Liga title in 2007.

His presentation in the Calderon, which I also attended, saw some fans shouting abuse at him then. He did little to win them over that first season making 26 league appearances, failing to score, and complaining about not being in the starting XI enough.

Reyes played last year on loan with Benfica, but the Portuguese side failed to come up with the money to make the move permanent, so with no other interesting offers on the table, the former Arsenal man is back in Madrid.

After Tuesday’s game, his new coach Abel Resino defended him: “It’s the start of the season and we are going to try to change all this. Reyes is an Atletico player, he works hard, and we will try to help him make his peace with the fans.”

Reyes, who turns 26 next week, is clearly a talented player and has shown that at Sevilla, Arsenal and Real Madrid, albeit inconsistently.

Atletico season-ticket holders I spoke to after the game agreed the treatment he received was harsh, and that with the shortage of creative talent in the side’s midfield it was crucial to have a player like Reyes on board.

The club need him but the only way he will win over doubters is with some strong performances. It remains to be seen whether he has the maturity to ride out the abuse and put in the hard graft necessary.

PHOTO: Jose Reyes (L) fights for the ball while at Benfica, April 19, 2009. REUTERS/Hugo Correia

Spain overcame 44 years of underachievement on the international stage when they were crowned European champions at Euro 2008. Not only did they win the tournament, but their players, their style and their attacking ambition were hailed around the world.

However, that success appears to have had a detrimental effect on their domestic teams, who have traditionally been some of the strongest performers in Europe’s club competitions.

Last week’s Champions League and UEFA Cup results are some of the worst in recent seasons.

Nine-times European Cup winners Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 at home by Liverpool in their last 16 first leg, while both Villarreal and Atletico Madrid were held to score draws at home by Panathinaikos and Porto respectively.

Only Barcelona achieved what could be considered a positive result, coming from behind to draw 1-1 away to Olympique Lyon and it was hardly an impressive performance.

In the UEFA Cup they fared even worse.

The 2004 winners Valencia drew at home to Dynamo Kiev to go out on the away goals rule 3-3 on aggregate, while Deportivo Coruna were humbled 6-1 on aggregate by AaB Aalborg. The 2006 and 2007 winners Sevilla failed to make it out of the group stages along with Racing Santander.

It is the first time in 18 years (since the 1990/91 season) there is no Spanish representative left in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.

This competition is often touted as an indicator of the strength in depth of particular leagues and this year’s Primera Liga does not appear to be a vintage one.

Leaders Barcelona are doing their best to make it exciting at the top, with their 12-point lead over Real Madrid down to four, but look beyond the top two and you’ll find third-placed Sevilla are a long, long way back, while fourth-placed Villarreal are closer to the relegation places (17 points) than they are to Barca (18).

Unless Barca, Real, Atletico and Villarreal buck up their ideas before the Champions League second legs, Spain could be bemoaning an even more calamitous scenario.

PHOTO: Dynamo Kiev’s Betao (R), Carlos Correa (2nd R) and Eremenko celebrate a goal near Valencia’s Vicente Rodriguez (L) during their UEFA Cup soccer match at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia February 26, 2009. REUTERS/Heino Kalis

The sort of performance Sergio Aguero turned in to inspire victory over Barcelona could be a curse as well as a blessing for Atletico Madrid, who are only going to find themselves under more pressure to sell him to one of Europe’s powerhouse clubs come the end of the season.

The gifted 20-year-old, nicknamed “Kun” after a Japanese comic book hero, scored two superb goals, including a dramatic 89th minute winner, as Atletico twice came from behind to stun the visiting Primera Liga leaders 4-3.

The match was a near carbon copy of the same fixture exactly a year earlier, when Aguero grabbed a brace and created one goal in the Madrid club’s 4-2 comeback win, and the quality of his performance was underscored by the fact that he outshone his more famous compatriot Lionel Messi.

However, he has looked unsettled at times this season and was unhappy with coach Abel Resino’s decision to replace him in the 56th minute of last week’s Champions League draw with Porto.

Argentina coach Diego Maradona, the father of Aguero’s partner Gianinna, has publicly advised him to seek a move to Inter Milan and the Serie A leaders have confirmed they are monitoring him.

“We’ll be hearing again today how the big boys of Europe want to buy him,” F. Javier Diaz wrote in Monday’s edition of Spanish sports newspaper As. “For now he’s playing in the red and white stripes of Atletico, not at Inter, Manchester United, Real Madrid or Barcelona, and it’s a matter of pride for the Atletico fans to hold on to him.”

Aguero said last month he was happy at Atletico and was not thinking about moving on but the pressure on the club to cash in will surely mount as his star continues to rise.

Selling him could make sense for both the player and the club, which lacks the earning power of Real and Barca, and they could use the proceeds to bolster a squad missing the depth enjoyed by their richer rivals.

If Atletico do try to hold on to Aguero, Champions League football will be a key factor.

Their chances of progressing to the quarter-finals of this year’s competition look slim after the 2-2 draw with Porto in Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 clash.

The win over Barca moved them up into fifth spot in the Spanish league but they are still three points behind Villarreal in fourth and eight shy of third-placed Sevilla.

PHOTO: Atletico Madrid’s Sergio “Kun” Aguero celebrates after scoring against Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, March 1, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer

Atletico Madrid’s decision to appoint Abel Resino as coach in place of the mild-mannered Javier Aguirre should help placate disgruntled fans and unsettled players.

Whether it will help them fulfil their aspirations of European success is a trickier question.

The 49-year-old Resino played at Atletico for most of his career, but has no track record coaching a major club.

He may well make light of that disadvantage, but banking on Resino to do a Guardiola and immediately set the world to rights is a gamble indeed.

Atletico are a difficult club to manage after all.

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There has been a long-running debate about video technology in football and surely the time has now come to assist referees and linesmen with offside decisions.

This week’s Champions League matches featured several howlers. Both of Dimitar Berbatov’s goals for Manchester United against Celtic were shown to be offside by TV replays yet the Belgium linesman kept his flag down.

He then raised his flag for offside against Wayne Rooney when seconds later a replay revealed that Rooney was actually behind the last defender. (more…)