page_title: History of Clube Atlético Mineiro
section_title: International achievements and financial turmoil (1990–2009)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Clube Atlético Mineiro / International achievements and financial turmoil (1990–2009)
caption_attribution_description: English: Taffarel
context_page_description: Clube Atlético Mineiro, also known simply as Atlético Mineiro or Atlético, is a Brazilian football club from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The club's history goes from its founding, in 1908, up to present day. The team was founded on 25 March 25, 1908 by twenty-two students from Belo Horizonte, led by Margival Mendes Leal and Mário Toledo.
  Since 1915, the club has competed in the Campeonato Mineiro, the state league of Minas Gerais, which it has won a record 43 times. In 1937, the club won its first title at national level, the Copa dos Campeões Estaduais. In 1950, Atlético went into a European tour, an important event in the club's history and, at the time, for Brazilian football itself.
  Since the inception of regular national club competitions in Brazil in 1959, the club has played in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, throughout most of its history, and has won the competition once, in 1971, finished in second place in four occasions. In the 1970s, it also won the Copa dos Campeões Brasileiros in 1978.
context_section_description: In the following decade, Atlético won the state league in 1991 and saw success at international level in 1992, when it won the inaugural Copa CONMEBOL, its first official international title, defeating Olimpia in the finals. As champion of that competition, the club took part in the 1993 Copa de Oro, in which it eliminated rivals Cruzeiro in the semi-finals but eventually lost to Boca Juniors. After finishing fourth in the 1994 Brasileirão, the following year saw the club win the state league and reach the finals of the Copa CONMEBOL for a second time, this one ending in defeat to Rosario Central. In 1996, Atlético participated in the Copa Masters CONMEBOL, a competition between past winners of the Copa CONMEBOL that was played in Cuiabá; Atlético eliminated Rosario Central in the semi-finals but lost to São Paulo in the final match. The team also finished third in that year's Brasileiro and fourth in the following edition, falling in the semi-finals of both seasons.
  Another triumph came in the 1997 Copa CONMEBOL, when an Atlético team that included Marques and Cláudio Taffarel reached the finals of the competition. Atlético faced an Argentine team in a continental final for the third time, with reigning champion of the competition Lanús as the opponent. Atlético took the lead in the series with a 4–1 win at La Fortaleza. After the match, Atlético players and staff were trapped in the surrounding wiring and attacked by Lanús players and fans. Atlético head coach Emerson Leão had to undergo surgery after being hit in the face. The second leg was played at the Mineirão, and this time the team's advantage was secured with a 1–1 draw, and Atlético won its second international title undefeated. Atlético player Valdir was the top scorer of the competition with seven goals.
  In 1999, after another Campeonato Mineiro title, an Atlético side led by Marques and Guilherme, the top scorer in the league, reached the Série A finals for the fourth time, but lost to Corinthians. Despite international success and good performances in the Série A, the decade was marked by bad club management by Atlético's presidents and deteriorating finances, which made the club one of the most indebted in Brazilian football.
  Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro in 2000, reached the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals and the semi-finals of Copa Mercosur, but had a bad season in the national league, the Copa João Havelange. The following season, despite a good performance in the Brasileirão with a squad that included Marques, Guilherme and Gilberto Silva, the team once again was eliminated in the Série A semi-finals, eventually finishing in fourth place. Atlético then finished in the upper part of the national league table in the following two seasons, but in 2004 it barely escaped relegation. In 2005 the club was demoted to the Série B, the second level of the Brasileirão.
  The club was promoted straight back up as Série B champion in 2006, returning to the Série A for the 2007 season. That year, Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro, its first trophy in seven years, and finished eighth in the national league. Alexandre Kalil was chosen as the club's new president in 2008, and tried to improve its finances and status. In 2009, with Diego Tardelli in good form, Atlético led the Brasileirão for eight of the thirty-eight rounds, before eventually finishing in seventh place. Despite some highlights at the beginning and end of the decade, the 2000s were not a successful period in the club's history, marked once again by bad administration and frequent managerial changes.
caption: Cláudio Taffarel won the 1997 Copa CONMEBOL with Atlético
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