Atletico Madrid Top Of The Spanish league Table Not For Long Say Most Spaniards

Before the match there was a celebration of Atletico's European Supercup triumph against Inter Milan in Monte Carlo on Friday.

Atletico Madrid Top Of The Spanish league Table Not For Long Say Most Spaniards

There is little faith in the possibility of Atletico Madrid staying top of the Spanish league, or even of challenging Barcelona and Real Madrid for the title, to judge by an opinion poll published on Tuesday.

Atletico swept to the top of La Liga for the first time since 1997 on Monday by thrashing feeble Sporting Gijon 4-0 at home.

Before the match there was a celebration of Atletico's European Supercup triumph against Inter Milan in Monte Carlo on Friday.

Diego Forlan and company are now top on goal difference over defending champions Barcelona, who won 3-0 away to Racing Santander on Sunday.

It is also a source of pride for the long-suffering Atletico fans that their team - which has usually been in the shadow of glamorous neighbours Real - now has two points more than the whites, who were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw away to Mallorca on Sunday in the debut of coach Jose Mourinho.

Atletico finished ninth last season but won the new Europa League and reached the final of the King's Cup, in which they lost to Sevilla.

Only 2 per cent of Marca readers think that Atletico will win La Liga, something they have not managed to do since 1996.

In contrast, 48.8 per cent believe that Barcelona will win their third successive league title, while 45.7 per cent have opted for Mourinho's new-look Real.

One reason for this lack of faith in Atletico could be the news - confirmed after the Gijon match by club president Enrique Cerezo - that playmaker Jose Manual Jurado has been sold to Bundesliga club Schalke 04, for around 11 million euros (14.04 million dollars).

Only 1.6 per cent of readers have opted for Valencia - champions in 2002 and 2004 - and only 0.7 per cent for Sevilla.

Marca also asked its readers who will be league top scorer. Most - 37.1 per cent - opted for Barca new boy David Villa, 20.7 per cent for team-mate Messi - who was top scorer last season - 20 per cent for Real's Gonzalo Higuain and 17.3 per cent for Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real said on Monday that Ronaldo would be out for around three weeks after suffering yet another severe sprain in his battered right ankle.

A total of 58.5 per cent of Marca readers think that World Cup captain Iker Casillas will be the best goalkeeper this season, with 29.7 per cent opting for Barca's Victor Valdes and 6.6 per cent for Atletico's teenage sensation David de Gea.

When asked which coach will get the most out of his squad, 42.8 per cent voted for Mourinho, 38.6 per cent for Barca boss Pep Guardiola and 5.9 per cent for Atletico's Quique Sanchez Flores.

Sanchez Flores has done well to restore confidence and ambition at Atletico since taking over in difficult circumstances, in November 2009.

But few Spaniards, to judge by the Marca poll, believe his team to be capable of staying on top for long.




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