Official name:
Vicente Calderón Stadium
Location:
Madrid, Spain
Date opened:
2 October 1966
Current capacity:
54,851
Major matches hosted:
Three matches at the World Cup in 1982.

Virgen del Puerto 67
28005 Madrid
Spain

Tel: +34 91 366 47 07
Fax: +34 91 366 98 11
Website: www.clubatleticodemadrid.com

Official name:
Amsterdam Arena
Location:
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Date opened:
14 August 1996
Inaugural match:
Ajax v AC Milan (ITA)
Current capacity:
51,628
Major match hosted:
Champions League Final : Real Madrid vs. Juventus 1998.
5 matches at the European Championships Final Tournament in 2000.

Arena Boulevard 1-3
1101 AX Amsterdam Zuid-Oost
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 20 3111444
Fax: +31 20 3111675
Email: info@ajax.nl
Website: www.ajax.nl

Atlético Madrid was founded on 26 April 1903 by a group of Basque students along with Athletic Bilbao captain Eduardo de Acha as the Madrid branch of Athletic Bilbao. They severed their ties with the Basque club in 1921 and went on to finish as runners-up in the Spanish Cup in both 1921 and 1926. This success led to an invitation to join the inaugural Spanish league in 1928.

The club won their first Spanish league title in 1940, retaining it in 1941. In 1947 the club shed its military connotations and adopted its current name, Club Atlético de Madrid. The 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were a golden age for Atlético Madrid. The club won La Liga in 1950 and 1951 and then again in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. Unfortunately, this era coincided with an even more glorious period for their main rivals Real Madrid, leaving Atlético to vie for the position of Spain’s second best team with Barcelona.

First taste of European glory
It was during this period that Atlético got their first taste of European glory, winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1962 when they defeated Italian side Fiorentina in the final. They reached the final again the following season, but lost 5-1 to Tottenham Hotspur.

In 1974, Atlético came agonisingly close to winning the European Cup. Bolstered by a strong backbone of Argentine players, they played a disciplined and cautious game which took them all the way to an encounter with the mighty Bayern Munich, led by Franz Beckenbauer, in the final. Atlético went 1-0 up late in extra-time, but Bayern then grabbed a last-minute equaliser to force a replay, which the Germans went on to win 4-0.

King’s Cup win
In 1974 shortly after the defeat in the European Cup final, Luis Aragonés was appointed coach. The former national team coach went on to manage Atlético Madrid during four different spells. He led the club to the runners-up spot in the league and a King’s Cup win in 1985, thanks largely to the goals of Mexican goal-poacher Hugo Sánchez. Aragonés also led Atlético to another Cup Winners Cup final in 1986, which they lost to Dynamo Kiev. In 1987, the controversial mayor of Marbella, Jesús Gil y Gil took control of the club and brought in many expensive signings, not to mention a host of different coaches.

This strategy proved largely unsuccessful, as Jesús Gil became more and more erratic and impatient with his coaches and players. However, Atlético Madrid still managed to win the double in 1996, before being relegated in 2000. Atlético were promoted back to the top flight in 2002. Following the death of Jesús Gil in 2004 and the arrival of a new president, the club became more stable on and off the pitch. They finished the 2007/08 in fourth place to secure Champions League football.

Fierce rivalry
Atlético, who hail from the predominantly working class south of Madrid, enjoy a fierce rivalry with neighbours Real Madrid, from wealthier environs of the north, meaning that the derby between the two teams has strong class undertones.

The Indians
Atlético are nicknamed los indios (the Indians). Supposedly the nickname derives from the fact that so many South American players have donned the club’s red-white colours over the years. The club originally played in blue, but changed their strip in 1911, when a board- member was dispatched to England in order to buy some Blackburn Rovers strips, but came home instead with the red and white stripes of Southampton. Atlético play at the Vicente Caldéron stadium, which currently has a capacity of almost 55,000.

Real Madrid legends, Raul and Juanito, both played youth football for Atlético before moving across town to the Bernabeu. Likewise, Mexican forward Hugo Sanchez and Bernd Schuster – the former Real Madrid head coach - also played for both Madrid clubs. Other former Atlético greats include Diego Simeone, Paulo Futre, Andoni Goikoetxea, Julio Salinas, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Fernando Torres.

Founded on 18 March 1900 by a couple of friends in a café near the Dam in Amsterdam, Ajax – or Amsterdamse Football Club Ajax to give them their original full name - started life playing in red and black. However, a year later they changed to the familiar red vertical band on white background, which has since become one of the most iconic football kit designs in the world.

The club has been in the top flight ever since first gaining promotion to the Eredivisie in 1917. To date, they have won the championship 29 times, to go with 16 Dutch cups; together with PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord they are regarded as one of the three traditional giants of Dutch football.

Won three consecutive finals
Their first European Cup final appearances came in 1969, when they lost out to AC Milan, but it was the start of the most successful period in the history of the club. Spearheaded by one of the game’s all-time greats, Johan Cruyff, and under the guidance of Rinus Michels, Ajax won three consecutive finals between 1971 and 1973 with a team of largely homegrown players who adopted an entertaining and innovative approach to the game, which has come to be known as ‘total football’.

In 2004, in a poll by Champions, the official magazine of the UEFA Champions, an expert panel voted Johan Cruyff as the best European player of all time. That team of Cruyff & Co made the club a household name with fans all over the world. Among the other many great names who have graced Ajax teams of the past are Piet Keizer, Johan Neeskens, Ruud Krol and Sjaak Swart. All in all, over one hundred Dutch internationals have represented Ajax.

Back on the highest pedestal
Cruyff also went on to enjoy success as Ajax coach, guiding them to the European Cup Winners Cup in 1987, with a team that featured Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp. However, it was actually another coach, Louis van Gaal who brought the club back on the highest pedestal.

Despite the fact that they did not feature any superstars, they managed to defeat AC Milan in the 1995 Champions League final, thanks to a goal from Patrick Kluivert. And the following year they made it all the way to the final again, this time losing out to Juventus in a penalty shoot-out.

Sons of the Gods
By then the team of talents – labelled as ‘the Sons of the Gods’, in reference to the fact that they were viewed as worthy heirs of the total football generation – had disintegrated. Players like Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Ronald and Frank de Boer, Edwin van der Sar and Finnish international forward Jari Litmanen all moved on to top clubs in Europe’s richest leagues.

In addition to their four European Cup/Champions League titles, the Ajax honours list includes one UEFA Cup (1992), three European Super Cups (1973, 1974, 1996), and two Club World Cup titles (1972, 1995).

A common feature of the 1970s and 1990s generations was that they were both largely products of the Ajax youth academy, which has firmly established itself as a one of the best football talent factories in the world over a period of many decades.

Farewell to their old stadium
In 1996 Ajax bid farewell to their old stadium and moved into the impressive new multi-functional Amsterdam Arena.

The club continues to produce a steady flow of super talented players, the latest generation including Johnny Heitinga, Wesley Sneijder, Ryan Babel, Rafael van der Vaart and Maarten Stekelenburg. They continue to battle it out for domestic honours with PSV Eindhoven, though have in recent years found it harder to compete on the European front.