These nights of cups, of a single match in the field of the lower category team, rescued by the federation, can be as emotional as they are treacherous. Dog night for the big ones, party night for the modest ones. However, this irregular Atlético does not expect a stadium with wet locker rooms, with extra stands to increase capacity or a playing field in poor condition tonight in the Kingdom of León (9:00 p.m., Dazn and Cuatro). The great obstacles that Diego Pablo Simeone‘s team will have to face are the resistance that the historic Cultural, a rooster from group II of the Second Division B managed by the Qatari capital of the Aspire academy since 2015, may oppose, the enthusiasm and drive of the 13,000 throats that will fill the Kingdom of León and the cold, which is not little.
Four years after their arrival, the millionaire investors, based in Doha, have already experienced the slide of managing a football club. In the beginning, they were aware of the reluctance and suspicion that money from Eastern, Asian or Middle Eastern countries aroused in Western Europe. The fear of the fans, based on real examples, of a scam at the expense of the historical and economic heritage of the clubs. As they still rule the ball and the results, promotion to the Second Division in the 16-17 season, just two years after landing Aspire, largely dispelled doubts in the bar gatherings and in the streets, which also retain their powerful share of influence in football from feelings.
“The adaptation was relatively easy. The football people who brought Aspire were smart, they didn’t destroy everything, they kept what they thought was valid. They did not enter like an elephant in a china shop, ”recalls former ACB member Felipe Llamazares, now general director of the club. Aspire was implemented as part of a project by the Qatari authorities with a view to the World Cup that they will organize in 2022.
Increase in partners
The year in Second A was significant in terms of modus operandi from Aspire. Rubén de la Barrera, the coach who achieved promotion, was kept until the end. “The investors did not make a short-term project that depended on the results,” says Llamazares. However, Víctor Cea, recruited for his colorful football and his success with Unión Adarve, was replaced in the middle of last season by José Manuel Aira, who failed to get the team into the play-off of ascent. Aira was fired, only to be hired again before the start of this.
The ephemeral passage through the silver category, the return to Second B, and the failed attempt to ascend last season, revived certain doubts and rumors of abandonment after Iván Bravo, one of the strong men of Aspire, left for Alcorcón. in Spain. The project is still underway, although the budget has gone from four million euros last year to two this year, still a respectable figure for a Second B team. “When we descended, a powerful project was made, favored by the canon of aid to the descent. This year the investment has been adjusted and it is normal”, continues Llamazares. The doubts are whether once the World Cup in Qatar is over, Aspire will leave. “You don’t have to think about the future, but about the present,” says Llamazares.
Since the arrival of Aspire, the social mass has increased from 1,800 to 6,800 members. The team is second in the table, three points behind Logroñés, and has not known defeat at home for a year and a half. It was Barcelona, in its cup visit in the 17-18 campaign, the last team that came out the winner of the Kingdom of León. Before, Real Madrid had passed a year earlier (1-7) in the same competition. “The visits from Madrid and Barça and this one now give visibility to León, to the project and, above all, they generate enthusiasm in the children”, concludes Llamazares.
