Atletico and the 17.5 million euro price slip

Atletico Madrid was bitterly eliminated from the Club World Cup. In the early morning of June 24, the La Liga representative beat Botafogo 1-0 but it was not enough to pass the group stage of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.

In a game where prize money swells with every win, a group stage exit would deny Diego Simeone's side the chance to rewrite history - both on the pitch and in the books.

On June 11, Atletico arrived in Los Angeles with the ambition to conquer the Club World Cup. There were not many changes in the squad, apart from Carlos Martin, Lenglet and new signing Musso, coach Diego Simeone believes that the old squad - the squad that entered the top 4 of La Liga in the 2024/25 season - is capable of competing. The bold statements before the tournament showed great determination: Atletico did not go to the US to play around.

But two weeks later, the red and white team quietly boarded a plane back to Madrid in defeat. Six points - equal with PSG and Botafogo - but the goal difference left them stranded.

Once again, what brought Atletico down was not necessarily the opponent, but the lack of courage in decisive moments. And this time, the fall was not only painful in terms of expertise, but also a heavy blow to the club's financial plan.

Atletico are guaranteed €19.27m for making it through the group stage. Two wins will net them another €3.5m, bringing their total to €22.7m. That sounds good, until you realise that if they only make it to the round of 16, they will get an additional €6.5m.

And if they beat Palmeiras to reach the quarter-finals, that sum would be 11 million euros. That means that in just the next two games, Atletico would have missed out on an additional 17.5 million euros. Given the club's tight finances, that figure is an unforgivable slip.

Atletico lost a huge amount of money after failing to get past the group stage of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Without dreaming of a championship or the glorious stage of the final, just passing the group stage, Atletico could have been considered a success. But instead, they became a living example of wasted potential.

The first Club World Cup is not only an opportunity to assert one's position on the world football map, but also a gold mine that participating teams compete to exploit. And Atletico, with all the tools in hand, regrettably missed that opportunity.

In football, failure can come from many causes: bad tactics, poor form, or simply bad luck. But when that failure also entails tens of millions of euros in financial losses, one has to wonder: have the ambitions Simeone and his players brought to Los Angeles been translated into action seriously enough?

Leaving the United States with €22.7 million, Atletico Madrid cannot consider it a success. In today's football world, where every euro can decide the fate of a contract, a season, even a coaching dynasty, the slip-up at the Club World Cup is nothing more than a stern warning. The opportunity is gone, the budget is running out, and the ambition is still just... words.

Source: https://znews.vn/atletico-va-cu-truot-gia-17-5-trieu-euro-post1563437.html