#3 Atletico Madrid
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Atletico Madrid have undergone a massive resurgence under Diego Simeone and have even broken the duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain with their La Liga triumph with their limited resources in 2014. They have been one of the most consistent sides in the Champions League in recent years - appearing in two finals in the past three years.
They are having a below par season so far compared to their recent lofty standards as they sit third in the La Liga table and totally out of contention for the title race. One of the reasons is that in an effort to improve their attacking threat this season, some of their defensive prowess has been compromised as well. In the Champions League, they topped their group which also had German champions Bayern Munich in it.
They had a relatively easy passage in the knock-out stages as they dispatched Bayer Leverkusen and English champions Leicester City in consecutive rounds. Now they are up against their local rivals Real Madrid in the semi-finals, thereby creating a Champions League record of meeting the same team in the knock-out stages for four consecutive years.
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However, Atletico have failed to get past Madrid in their last three matchups and Diego Simeone will be hoping that his superstars in the form of Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco, Diego Godin and Koke will be itching to change the record against their derby rivals and give themselves a good chance of winning the trophy finally.
