Valencia-Atlético: the equality lost

May 2004.

, owner of 56% of the share capital of

,

dies

.

His son Miguel Ángel takes the reins of the club that had just returned from the First Division after two years in hell (2000/2002).

In

a historic double is being celebrated: for the second time in two years, the team, with

on the bench, is proclaimed League champion and wins the UEFA Cup.

While the rojiblancos fought to flee from Segunda, Valencia, who had already won a Copa del Rey in 99, played two

finals

and won one more League.

He supervised

and

, and had reached the podium of the historical classification of the League by points.

That trend is totally reversed today.

Atlético visits the Mestalla field this afternoon as a serious candidate for the league title, with a constant presence in the Champions League, a brand new stadium that accelerates its income and economic capacity and sports seduction that has allowed it not only to sign pearls like

(127 million euros), but also to test Valencians like

or take

on the last day of the market.

He is a rival that cannot be followed by the wheel.

The

has a key date: December 2011. The arrival of

marks the rebirth of Atlético, which began to straighten its path thanks to a coach expelled from Valencia,

.

He left a Copa del Rey and a Europa League 24 years after his last European final.

When the Argentine sat on the Calderón bench,

had already been at the Mestalla for two and a half seasons.

He picked up a Valencia who fled from the relegation that

dragged him to

and led him to three consecutive qualifications for the Champions League.

and

were their banners.

But then disaster struck.

13 coaches have led Valencia in the last eight years: Pellegrino, Valverde, Djukic, Pizzi, Nuno, Gary Neville, Ayestaran, Prandelli, Voro, Marcelino, Celades and Javi Gracia.

In that time he has played the Champions League three times, with the last 16 as the greatest achievement, and has won a Copa del Rey.

Atlético's dressing room has only had one boss since the end of 2011 and they have celebrated seven titles, including one League and two Europa League, in addition to reaching two Champions League finals.

No win since 2014

Since the 2011/12 campaign, Simeone's first six months, Valencia have never again finished a championship ahead of Atlético.

In fact, it has not achieved a victory at either the Mestalla or the Wanda since October 2014. The takeoff of Atlético caused that in January 2016 it recovered its third place in the historical classification of the League.

The advantage is, at the moment, 102 points.

An abyss.

If in 2000 Valencia was able to get

out of Calderón

, player transfers have been uneven since then, and more so in the Simeone era.

While Atlético has bought

and bid for

, two Valencian pillars, only players have arrived at Mestalla who did not enter into the Argentine's plans:

,

,

(on loan) or

.

With social stability and with a stadium

Atlético's sporting acceleration in these years has been accompanied by an institutional transformation.

While Valencia began the urban stadium change operation in 2006, and there is no date for its completion, the rojiblancos have been at the

three seasons

.

In addition, its shareholding is still in the hands of the Gil family and Enrique Cerezo, who have had as partners the Chinese company

, which gives the stadium its commercial name and had 20% of the share capital from 2015 to 2018, and now the Israeli

, which owns 33% of the shares.

Valencia has had five presidents since 2004 and ownership of the club, after a complicated sale process against which Valencia is fighting today, is in the hands of businessman

, who controls 84% ​​of the shares and has a personal friendship with Miguel Ángel Gil Marín and a common element: his good relations with

.

Where both clubs remain equaled is their rampant debt.

Together with Barcelona they form the trio of clubs with the highest indebtedness in the League.

Tonight they will jump to Mestalla with casualties.

The rojiblancos without Suárez and Diego Costa.

Valencia, without Gayà.

Atlético "different, with more variants in attack, more possession and dominance", as defined by Javi Gracia, will be seen with a team as capable of going back to Real Madrid as of conceding goals before 30 minutes in seven of the ten games disputed.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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