Colchoneros have gone leaps and bounds under the stewardship of Diego Simeone, who took charge of the team in 2011.
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Atletico Madrid has undoubtedly grown in one of the toughest teams to beat in Europe in the last decade or so. Colchoneros have gone leaps and bounds under the stewardship of Diego Simeone, who took charge of the team in 2011. The Argentine manager’s defensive tactics have helped the club to punch above their weight with the limited resources available. They went on to win two La Liga titles and reach two Champions League finals in the last ten years. The Red-Whites are known for their solid defence, hard tackles and discipline at the back, therefor there is no surprise in the fact that only five players have scored more than 100 goals for Indios in their 120 year-old history. Lets have a look at the all-time top five goal-scorers for Atletico Madrid.
Luis Aragones is the top goal-scorer for Atletico with a grand total of 154 goals to his name. Aragones the player might not be very popular outside Spain, but Aragones the coach will be familiar to most of the football fans around the world. The Spaniard coached Atletico for 612 games during various spells between 1974 and 2003. Meanwhile his biggest success came in 2008 when he coached the Spanish national team to glory in the Euro 2008. During his playing days, Aragones was a prolific striker, having scored an impressive 191 goals for different clubs in Spain. He joined Colchoneros in 1964 and then went on to wear the Red and White jersey for the next ten years, scoring 154 goals from 324 appearances.
Antoine Griezmann is the only name is the list which is actively playing football. The Frenchman joined Atletico in 2014 and after a five years the striker moved to Barcelona, before returning to Metropolitano in 2021. In his two spells at Colchoneros, the 32 year-old has scored a whopping 153 goals from 334 appearances. Since his return from Camp Nou, Diego Simeone has transformed Griezmann into more of a playmaker than a striker. The Frenchman now plays second fiddle to the striker. He has scored 12 goals and provided 11 assists this season so far. It won’t be long before Griezmann overtakes Aragones in the list.
The Spaniard played 394 matches for Atletico during various spells between 2001 and 2018, scoring an impressive 128 goals. Torres joined Atletico Madrid in 1995 at the age of just eleven and went on play for their age group teams. He made his senior team debut in 2001 at the age of just 16-years and quickly rose to prominence. His breakthrough season was in 2002/03 when he scored an impressive 13 goals in 29 appearances. The following season, Torres scored 20 league-goals and it didn’t take long before the top European clubs came calling and the Spaniard signed for Premier League giants Liverpool in 2007. After spending several seasons in England and Italy, the striker returned to his boyhood club in 2015. And then, Torres left Atletico to join Japanese club Sagan Tosu in 2018 before announcing his retirement in 2019.
Jose Eulogia Garate is one of the several Atletico legends. Born in Sarandi, Argentina the former striker went on to play for Spain and spent 11 years playing for Colchoneros, from 1966-77. He began his career with Eibar in 1960 before joining SD Indautxu in 1963. Along with Aragones, he was a prominent member of the Red-Whites in the 1960s and 70s. Garate helped the team win three La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey and reached of the European Cup final. He was a prolific goal-scorer , winning the Pichichi award three times in a row between 1968 and 1970 and scored the winning goal in the Copa del Rey finals in 1972 and 1976. During his time at Atletico, Garate scored 121 goals in 283 appearances.
The Argentine is at the bottom of the top five with 101 goals to his name from 234 appearances. Aguero joined Atletico in 2006 from Independiente. He was a pivotal part for the club for five years before signing for Manchester City in 2011. His breakthrough season in Spain came in 2007/08 when he scored 19 league-goals and his best league-campaign for Red-Whites came in 2010/11 (20). Aguero then moved Manchester City where he climbed the ladder to become one the most prolific strikers of his generation. The Argentina international won the 2014/15 golden boot award, scoring 26 goals. He went on to become the all-time top goal scorer for the Ma City, having scored 389 goals for the Cityzens, before returning to Spain in 2021. Meanwhile, his stint at Barca didn’t last long as the 34-year-old was forced to announce retirement from competitive football in 2021 because of a cardio issue.
