The long, slow decline of Atlético Madrid

It's been another frustrating season for Atlético Madrid. The side finished seventh in La Liga, narrowly missing the Champions League, and having to settle for the qualifying stages of the Europa League, which it won last season. As a result, many of Atlético's star players - Diego Forlán, Sergio Agüero, David de Gea and Diego Godín - are expected to leave. The club failed to lure Luis Enrique, Rafa Benítez or Joaquín Caparrós to take on the coach's job, and Gregorio Manzano has agreed to take charge. In 2003-04, he guided Atlético to a seventh-place finish in La Liga.

But there was a time when Atlético Madrid was Spain's second club. "Not that long ago, in the 1960s and 1970s, when it won four leagues, five King's Cups, the Intercontinental, we were the competition for Barcelona and Real Madrid," says José Eulogio Gárate, a striker from the club's 1960s glory days. "These days they don't see us as a threat. I think they find us amusing."

Over the last 25 years, Atlético has proved unable to match the spending and organization of its bigger rivals, and has fallen steadily behind them. In 1985, Barcelona had just two more league titles than the Madrid side; it now has 12 more. The last time Atlético won a double was in 1996. Four years later, it was in the second division.

Luis Aragonés, the club's top scorer who presided over the side on four occasions between 1974 and 1987 as coach, takes issue with the club's CEO, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, who said earlier this year that he would be happy to see Atlético qualify for the Champions League three out of five years. "Atlético doesn't deserve to be treated like that: we cannot accept qualifying for the Europa League. When I was with the side, we fought for every title going. We are Spain's third side, but we have lost sight of our history," he says.

In reality, looking at the club's record over the last 15 seasons, Atlético comes in a distant eighth in terms of points, behind Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Deportivo, Athletic Bilbao, Mallorca and Espanyol.

The club's fortunes have been inextricably linked to the Gil family. Jesús Gil, who made his money in construction like most of Spain's soccer presidents, spent heavily on new players when he took over in 1987. But after more than a decade of shady financial dealings, and relegation for two seasons to the second division, the government intervened, appointing its own administrator to run the side on a day-to-day basis. Atlético's debt is estimated at between 180 million euros and 300 million euros.

Not that the side hasn't spent heavily on players, signing around 180 since 1996, at a total cost of some 565 million euros. On average, half of them stayed for one season, and just 49 managed two seasons. Manzano will be under pressure to steer the side to a Champions League place next year. The fans have made clear their disappointment at his installation as coach for a second time, but Manzano insists that the side is "strong and powerful."