REAL AND ATLÉTICO PLAYERS ARE ON GOOD TERMS
By HUGO CEREZO
Whether they see themselves as friends or simply colleagues and peers, the Real Madrid and Atlético players have a great relationship. Living and working in the same city by no means requires the two camps to get along or break bread together but, in actual fact, fraternising between the city rivals is by no means uncommon.
This inter-Madrid mingling takes place at all levels, starting at the very top: agent Jorge Mendes has organised a number of get-togethers between Cristiano and Falcao, who were pictured looking very chummy at the MARCA Awards ceremony earlier this year. Meanwhile, club presidents Florentino Pérez and Enrique Cerezo frequently rub shoulders, there is a vast amount of mutual respect and admiration between coaches José Mourinho and Diego Simeone, while even the new kids on the block, Nacho and Koke, share a dressing room for the Spain under-21s.
The closest bosom buddies spanning the Madrid divide are Arbeloa and Filipe. Having met as youngsters at Real Madrid Castilla, the pair developed together at Deportivo La Coruña, where they posed together for a fair few newspaper columns – including one with dummies in their mouths, back when the club was nicknamed ‘Baby Depor’! Their friendship remains alive and kicking today, and they follow one another on social media and regularly comment on each other’s posts.
All in all, the bonds between Real and Atlético run extremely deep. However, all this will count for nothing when the two clubs battle to the death for ‘Copa del Rey’ glory and local bragging rights this Friday.
