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The mere mention of Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium might be enough to send a shiver down the spine of many an Evertonian given that it was the venue for Liverpool's sixth European Cup success on the first day of this month.

However, turning away from thoughts of the Champions League final, this corner of the Spanish capital might actually be able to offer the Blues some lessons when it comes to taking on a local rival with greater resources.

As observers who do not know their history may need reminding, Everton and Atletico boast a proud, rich and comparable heritage.

Both occupy third place in the all-time league tables of their respective top flight divisions with Everton behind just Liverpool and Arsenal in England and Atletico trailing Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain.

But while the Blues continue to try and work their way towards the business end of the Premier League, Atletico, for all their more illustrious neighbours' successes, have established themselves as a modern footballing power in recent years.

They actually finished runners-up in La Liga in 2018/19 behind title winners Barcelona, some eight points better off than Real, and in doing so qualified for the group stages of the Champions League for the seventh consecutive season.

For all Farhad Moshiri's ambitions, such consistency currently remains out of reach for Everton, whose only ever brush with the Champions League was a solitary play-off round exit to Villarreal in 2005 courtesy of the once highly-rated Pierluigi Collina somehow spotting a non-existent foul in his last ever match as a top-level referee to deny them the chance to level the aggregate score.

So just what can the Blues learn from Atletico when it comes to taking on the neighbours and becoming a major force?

As author of Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football and White Storm: 100 Years of Real Madrid , San Sebastian-based author Phil Ball is well-qualified to offer his take on the subject.

While he was born in Vancouver, spent time in Peru and Oman and adopts a distinctly Iberian pronunciation when dropping Spanish words into the conversation, several decades of living in the Basque Country have not eroded the accent of Grimsby Town fan Ball's formative years spent in Cleethorpes.

He told the ECHO: “Atletico have come a long way in a short space of time. The job on the pitch for the next five years or so would be to consolidate and build on what they've achieved.

“That could be difficult given they just lost a host of emblematic players so although they're in the Champions League again next season they've still got a tricky summer ahead when it comes to rebuilding.

“Atletico have always had a really fanatical fanbase and they're a pretty amazing club.

“I've never liked this edgy feel they've tried to portray over the years but it's not as bad as it was, they've got their act together and they actually pretty decent to watch these days, there's been something of a seachange.

(Image: Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

“You can also throw into the mix that they've also got a very successful women's team who have won the league for the last three seasons whereas Real Madrid don't even have a women's team – things like that never used to matter but now it does.”

The departing players that Ball eludes to are left-back Lucas Hernandez whose summer move to Bayern Munich was announced back in March; defensive stalwarts Diego Godin and Juanfran who will exit Atletico after nine years and eight years respectively and star striker Antoine Griezmann who confirmed on May 14 that he would be leaving following a five-season stint.

(Image: David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)

It seems no coincidence that Atletico's upturn in fortunes has coincided with the stability brought by having a consistent figure in the dugout in the shape of the club's former midfielder Diego Simeone who has been head coach since December 2011.

Everton of course had David Moyes in charge for over 11 years between 2002-13 but he was only able to break into the top four once in 2005 and since Mr Moshiri took control of the club in 2016 there have been four managers.

Of course it's far easier to hang on to a manager when he is doing well and the Argentinian has steered Atletico to a La Liga title in 2014 when they finished three points above both Barcelona and Real Madrid; a Copa del Rey in 2013 and the Europa League in both 2012 and 2018.

Ball said: “I remember Simeone when he was playing and you always associate him with Atletico.

“He's the kind of guy you want on your side as opposed to against you.

“The interesting thing was when he first came to Atletico he was welcomed but didn't have that great a record.

“He seemed like one of those start well, finish badly coaches - but he proved everybody wrong and I guess what has happened is that he's found the right environment for him.

“What you've got with Atletico and Simeone is a well-run club and in contrast, for all their success, Real are a badly-run club with too much money and not a lot of sense.

“When Simeone turned up as coach, they didn't have the largesse they enjoy now from consecutive Champions League appearances, the overseas investment and the new stadium even though they'll never be as rich as Real and there's still a major difference.”

(Image: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The suggestion that Real Madrid, the club with a record 13 European Cups are badly run is obviously a quote that makes your ears prick up so when prompted for clarification, Ball adds: “For all they have going for them, Real are still such a mess.

“If you look at this last season, it was a culmination of many factors that had been boiling up.

“They haven't really got a director of football. Jorge Valdano left a few years ago when he knew which way the wind was blowing so what you have is a power vacuum in between the president Florentino Perez and the coach.

“Perez is used to having all the power and while he runs his business very efficiently but that doesn't mean he knows how to run a football club.

“He's written a lot of cheques but if the likes of you and I had his money then we could have done that and done as well.

“Atletico's president Enrique Cerezo hasn't always been perfect and has made a few mistakes along the way but he's learned that cleaning up your act makes you money.

(Image: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

“Some people don't like the fact that he sold a stake in the club to Chinese investors as that could bring in some potential instability in the future but it's going well (unlike Bill Kenwright selling to Mr Moshiri, Cerezo retains a controlling 52% stake; Idan Ofer of Quantum Pacific has 33% and Wang Jianlin of Wanda Group has 15%).

“Simeone's appointment came around the time of the transition from an Atletico who were happy being the bad boys from the edgy part of town to a realisation that shedding such an image could actually be profitable.”