David González took charge of his first training session as Atlético de Madrid Women head coach on 17 July.
It was also his first session in charge of a women’s team.
Amanda Sampedro was alongside him. The badge, the training ground and the meaning of the team were all familiar to her, but the role was new. The former Atlético captain has returned to the first team as assistant coach.
The image sums up the approach Atlético are taking into the 2026/27 season. The club have handed the team to a coach from the men’s game and placed beside him one of the figures who best understands its recent history.
González brings a fresh perspective. Amanda brings the memory of a team that once competed for trophies and is now trying to regain lost ground.
A project starting again
Atlético finished fifth in Liga F last season and missed out on Champions League qualification. They reached the Copa de la Reina final and competed in Europe, but the campaign again ended with a sense of an opportunity missed.
There was no continuity in the dugout either. Víctor Martín began the season and José Herrera took over for the second half. Neither will lead the new project.
González arrives after coaching Bolivian side Oriente Petrolero. He previously worked with the Dominican Republic senior and under-23 national teams and had spells at clubs including Tudelano, Badajoz and Real Tomayapo.
His career has taken him through different countries and environments, but never into women’s football. Atlético themselves highlighted that fact when announcing his appointment.
It is not necessarily a weakness, but it is one of the main uncertainties surrounding the project. González must adapt to an unfamiliar competition, understand a new dressing room and quickly build a team capable of returning to Europe.
His contract runs only until June 2027. The margin for error will therefore be limited.
Amanda returns in a different role
Amanda Sampedro’s presence may help shorten that adaptation process.
The Madrid-born former midfielder joined the academy at nine, made her first-team debut as a teenager and eventually became captain. She was part of the side that won the 2016 Copa de la Reina, three consecutive league titles between 2017 and 2019, and the 2021 Super Cup.
That period established Atlético as one of the leading teams in Spanish women’s football. The current landscape is different. Barcelona have widened the gap, Real Madrid have consolidated their place near the top and teams such as Real Sociedad and Tenerife have shown that even third place cannot be taken for granted.
Amanda is not returning to play or to recreate that Atlético side automatically. She is coming back to perform a specific role within the coaching staff.
She knows the club, its demands and the identity the team have gradually lost amid repeated changes in both the squad and the dugout. She can act as a link between González, the dressing room and an institution that needs this new era to become more than another temporary solution.
A squad in transition
The change of coach has been accompanied by a significant overhaul of the squad.
Atlético have signed Lucía Rodríguez, Maite Zubieta, Génesis Pérez, Henrietta Csiszár, Viola Calligaris and Allegra Poljak. They have also promoted players from the academy into the first-team setup.
The new arrivals offer a mixture of profiles: young players with room to develop, footballers with Liga F experience, senior internationals and a returning face in Calligaris, who already knows the club and won two league titles during her first spell.
There have also been important departures, including Carmen Menayo, who leaves Atlético after ten seasons.
The squad is changing, but the objective remains the same: to return to the Champions League and compete consistently near the top.
That will require more than simply adding names. González must give the team a shared idea, while Amanda must help ensure that idea fits the club they represent from two very different positions.
Atlético have chosen to begin again with an unusual combination: a coach with no background in women’s football and an assistant whose past is deeply connected to the team.
One must discover Atlético. The other must help him recognise it.
The success of this latest rebuild will depend on that balance.
