Publisher Description

Hijacking La Liga: How Atletico Madrid Broke Barcelona and Real Madrid's Duopoly looks at what went on behind the scenes as Atletico Madrid went from relegation to mid-table mediocrity to seriously threatening the dominance of Spanish football's two superpowers. For years, Barcelona and Real Madrid maintained a firm grip on the country's and the continent's silverware, but Los Rojiblancos have managed to turn La Liga into a three-team league, with the help of a fiery Argentine coach, a squad of cast-offs, an electric home support and an overarching commonsense financial plan. In May 2000, the capital city side had suffered their first relegation from the top flight since 1930, but just 14 years later they would be crowned La Liga champions. Euan McTear explores the key moments, decisions, goals and matches in their extraordinary resurgence, one which has converted Atletico Madrid into one of world football's most powerful clubs.

Author Biography

Euan McTear is a Scottish journalist, author of Eibar The Brave: The Extraordinary Rise of La Liga's Smallest Team, which was named among the Guardian's best sporting books of 2015. Euan has covered Spanish football for a number of publications, and has also worked as MARCA In English's Atletico Madrid correspondent, putting him in the perfect position to share the team's story.

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