This season's Champions League has now begun, and one of the standout fixtures of its first matchday was the match between Atlético Madrid and Juventus. Juve opened up a two-goal lead over the Madrid club through goals scored by Juan Cuadrado and Blaise Matuidi, but Stefan Savić pulled one back for

Atlético before H

éctor Herrera's stoppage-time equaliser ensured that

Atlético would complete the comeback and finish with a well-earned draw.





This match epitomized what

Atlético have been all about for the last decade. This is a team that simply refuses to accept defeat and who have overcome so many tremendous challenges that would have broken almost any other club. Over this period,

Atlético have seen superstars such as Diego Forl

án, Sergio Agüero, Radamel Falcao, Thibaut Courtois, and most recently Antoine Griezmann leave the Vicente Calderón (or in Griezmann's case, the Wanda Metropolitano). They have also operated with a significantly lower budget than those of fellow La Liga powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona, not to mention those of other Champions League title contenders such as Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, among others.





Yet, despite these setbacks and disadvantages,

Atlético have been perennial contenders both domestically and in the Champions League alike. But just how have they done it?





One key element of

Atlético's success has been player scouting and development.





When

Atlético signed Jan Oblak in 2014, he had never played a league game in a major league at the time. He had also been loaned out four times, each time to a relatively minor Portuguese club. Five years on, the Slovenian is definitely among the five best, and arguably the three best, goalkeepers in the world.





Oblak's predecessor Courtois was signed on a three-year loan deal from Chelsea, for whom he never played a league game until his return from his stint in the Spanish capital.

Atlético, of course, turned a benchwarmer into the best goalkeeper on the planet.





It's not just goalkeepers. During his time at Real Sociedad, Griezmann was seen as an exciting young prospect, but very few foresaw him reaching the heights which he eventually did. However,

Atlético recognized how great he would someday become. Not only did they sign him when no other club was chasing his services, but they also managed to develop his talent to a point which resulted in his becoming a genuine Ballon d'Or contender.





It also helps that

Atlético have perhaps the best head coach on the planet in the dugout.





Year in and year out, Diego Simeone has led

Atlético to overachievement relative to the amount of money they have at their disposal. They have emerged as one of world football's leading teams not through star power, not through money, and not even through a historic past. Simeone has helped

Atlético do it through grit, willpower, character, strategy, and intelligence. The tactical brilliance of "El Cholo" has been evident over his eight years in charge of

Atlético and was never more obvious than in the 2013-14 season, when

Atlético stunned Barcelona and Real Madrid to win La Liga, then came so close to winning their first Champions League title before being denied at the death by city rivals Real.





Atlético's signings have also been astute and well-planned. Unlike some other clubs which just sign the splashiest names for the most expensive prices without considering how they fit into the team,

Atlético's front office clearly puts much thought into their signings. Signings over recent years such as Rodri, Savi

ć, Kieran Trippier, and even more expensive ones such as Thomas Lemar were all made with how they would contribute to the team and its general strategy in mind.





I'll just go ahead and say it:

Atlético Madrid are the best-run football club in the world. No other club has its combination of coaching, player development, team chemistry, transfer market savvy, scouting, and financial management while also performing at a world-class level and being constant contenders to win the Champions League. If European football were like the NFL or NBA and had a salary cap, I firmly believe that

Atlético would have won between three and six of the last 10 Champions Leagues.





If any team ever deserved a Champions League title, it has to be

Atlético Madrid.