Atletico is already seeing some strong changes to their lineup, with their veteran goalkeeper Leo Franco now departing and the promising young Real Valladolid star, Sergio Asenjo expected to take his place. Atletico also purchased Real Betis defender and Spanish international, Juanito. Despite pressure from big clubs to purchase their star players, Aguero and Forlan, Atletico remained committed to keeping their strong attacking base in the hopes for a successful new season.

Atletico's success continued in the last season when they placed 4th once again in the league table, securing a position in the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League. Striker Diego Forlan was crowned Pichichi of the season and Golden Boot when he scored 32 goals for Atletico this season.

There was a public outrage after his dismissal, many believing he was not the cause of Atlético's problems, specifically player Diego Forlán who claimed “Dismissing Javier was the easy way out, but he was not the cause of our problems. The players are to blame because we have not been playing well and we have been committing a lot of errors." Abel Resino was confirmed as the new manager.

On 3 February 2009, Javier Aguirre was dismissed from his post as manager after a terrible start to 2009, not winning a game in 6 run outs. He later claimed this was simply not the case, and that he had been released by mutual termination rather than sacked.

This season, Atlético have added French goalkeeper Grégory Coupet, Dutch central defender John Heitinga, Czech central defender Tomáš Ujfaluši, Brazilian central midfielder Paulo Assunção, Argentine Midfielder Ever Banega (on loan from Valencia S.A.D., and French forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle to the lineup, who join returning loanee Portuguese central midfielder Maniche.

So far, the 2008/09 season has proven to be another great stride forward in the resurrection of Club Atlético de Madrid's reputation as a force to be reckoned with both in Domestic and European Football, with participation continuing in the UEFA Champions League, however recent performances in La Liga have not been as successful as the club would have liked.

More significantly, the team finished the La Liga season in 4th place, qualifying for Champions League Play. The return of UEFA Champions League football to the Vicente Calderon Stadium was the first time since the 1996/97 season, when Atlético lost in the Quarterfinal round to the Dutch powerhouse Ajax. Sergio Agüero, Diego Forlán, Simão, Maxi Rodríguez, and goalkeeper Leo Franco led Atlético to its first Champions League appearance in more than ten years.