TAFC: The Saga of Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone in La Liga; Also Featuring an EFL Player’s Controversial Shorts Incident

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Hello. All eyes have been on Barcelona and Real Madrid, but Atletico Madrid are stealing Spain’s thunder.

On the way:

Atletico: La Liga’s Hot Shots

Simeone back at it again

Should we classify 2024-25 as the second coming of Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid? Or the third, or even the fourth? He’s driven Atletico for so many years and transformed them repeatedly that counting is quite the challenge.

The glory days of 2013-14, when Atletico clinched La Liga and came oh-so-close to winning the Champions League, will likely be remembered as his crowning achievement, but Simeone is far from a one-hit wonder. A second domestic title arrived in 2020-21, and a third should not be ruled out, as in Spain, ’s defense , 3pm/8pm — Paramount+/Sky Sports.

Serie A: Fiorentina vs Udinese, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Paramount+/One Football; Inter Milan vs Como, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+, Fubo, CBS, Amazon Prime/TNT Sports, OneFootball.

And Finally…

🤣 When your pants are down and you’re punished! #EFL | #SkyBetLeagueTwo pic.twitter.com/HELPZ0T0Nk

— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) December 21, 2024

Goal of the day on Saturday belonged to League Two Doncaster Rovers. Their second goal in a 3-1 victory over Tranmere Rovers came from winger Luke Molyneux effectively dispossessing defender Jordan Turnbull… by pulling down his shorts. The referee seemed unfazed. Who am I to dispute that?

(Top photo: Flor Tan Jun/Getty Images)