Atlético de Madrid is the other Spanish club at the Club World Cup in the US this summer, alongside Real Madrid. They fill that place instead of FC Barcelona, because when the full line up was announced, they had a better UEFA ranking, given Barça's failures at Champions League and Europa League in recent years.
Atlético has never won Champions League, but they reached the final in 2014 and 2016, and won Europa League in 2012 and 2018. They have a tough group (Group B) that includes most recent Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain, as well as most recent Libertadores champions Botafogo, and 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup winners Seattle Sounders.
Atlético de Madrid Group Stage Matches at Club World Cup
Sunday, 15 June: PSG vs. Atlético de Madrid: 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST
Thursday, 19 June: Seattle Sounders vs. Atlético de Madrid: 23:00 BST (of Thursday), 00:00 CEST (of Friday)
Monday, 23 June: Atlético de Madrid vs. Botafogo: 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST
Potential path for the final for Atleti at Club World Cup
As Atleti is part of Group B, if they advance to the round of 16 they would face teams in group A. That means their potential rivals in the first knock-out stage are:
Palmeiras
Porto
Al Ahly
Inter Miami
And, depending on whether they finish first or second in the group, they would play their games on:
Saturday, June 28: Winner of Group A vs. Runner up of Group B: 17:00 AM BST, 18:00 CEST
Sunday, June 29: Winner of Group B vs. Runner up of Group A: 17:00 AM BST, 18:00 CEST
If they win it, their next rivals in quarter-finals would be one among this list from groups C and D:
Flamengo
ES Tunis
Chelsea
Los Angeles FC
Bayern Munich
Auckland City
Boca Juniors
Benfica
After that, they could play the quarter-finals games on Saturday July 5 at 3:00 CEST or Saturday July 5 at 18:00 CEST, and either one of the semi-finals on Tuesday, July 8, at 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST on July 8 or July 9.
Do you think Atlético de Madrid has chances of reaching the Club World Cup final? It would be on Sunday, July 13, at 20:00 BST, 21:00 CEST.