Early years and achievements (1908–1949) Clube Atlético Mineiro was formed on 25 March 1908, by a group of twenty-two students from
Belo Horizonte, who decided the club's name would be
Athletico Mineiro Foot Ball Club. The club's first match was played against Sport Club Futebol on 21 March 1909; Atlético won 3–0, with the first goal scored by
Aníbal Machado. In 1915, the club won the inaugural edition of the
Campeonato Mineiro, the
state league of Minas Gerais. The competition was then organised by the
Liga Mineira de Sports Athléticos, which would later become the
Federação Mineira de Futebol (FMF). Atlético won the league again in 1926, led by striker
Mário de Castro. In 1927, forwards
Said and
Jairo joined Castro to form an attacking partnership nicknamed the
Trio Maldito ("Unholy Trio"), which guided Atlético to another state league triumph. In 1929, the club played its first international encounter, against Portuguese club
Vitória de Setúbal, winning 3–1 in a match played at the
Presidente Antônio Carlos Stadium. The ground had opened earlier that year and would become the club's home for the following two decades. winning squad Atlético won the state league in 1931 and 1932, before becoming a professional club in 1933. After another Campeonato Mineiro triumph in 1936, Atlético won the
1937 Campeonato Brasileiro, the inaugural edition of the national league. The competition was organised by the
Federação Brasileira de Foot-Ball, a federation for professional clubs that would later merge into the
Brazilian Sports Confederation (CBD). The Copa dos Campeões Estaduais was contested by the 1936 state league champions from Minas Gerais (Atlético),
Rio de Janeiro (
Fluminense),
São Paulo (
Portuguesa) and
Espírito Santo (
Rio Branco). Atlético defeated the latter 5–1 in the final match, played at the Antônio Carlos stadium.
Guará rose as the club's top player during that period, and the interstate title was followed by two more Campeonato Mineiro victories, in 1938 and 1939. Success continued in the 1940s, with a squad that included
Carlyle,
Lucas Miranda,
Nívio and goalkeeper
Kafunga. The club was dominant in the state as it won the league in 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947 and 1949. The team, captained by
Zé do Monte, was dubbed the
Campeões do Gelo ("Ice Champions"), a title that is remembered in the club's official anthem. The club's success in the state competition continued in the 1950s, a decade that saw the rise of forward
Ubaldo and five consecutive Campeonato Mineiro victories from 1952 to 1956. After another state league title in 1958, Atlético took part in the
inaugural edition of the
Taça Brasil in the following year, reaching the third round. The tournament, the country's first annual nationwide competition, was a
cup contested between state league champions, originally created by the CBD to select Brazil's entrants in the newly formed
Copa Libertadores. In the 1960s, Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro twice, in 1962 and 1963, but failed to advance to the later stages of the Taça Brasil.
Mineirão, Belo Horizonte's new stadium, opened in 1965 and immediately became the club's home. It was in the mid-1960s when the rivalry with
Cruzeiro became the main one in the state. In 1967, another national-level competition was created by the CBD, the
Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. the following year, the
Seleção itself, which would become champions of the
1970 FIFA World Cup, was defeated 2–1.
National success and state dominance (1970–1989) (here pictured in 2014) was the top goalscorer and led Galo to triumph in the
1971 Brasileirão. With the arrival of
Telê Santana as the club's head coach in 1970, Galo broke Cruzeiro's sequence and won its first state league title in the Mineirão, also finishing third in the last
Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. In 1971, captained by midfielder
Oldair and with
World Cup-winning forward
Dario as the league's top goalscorer, Atlético won the
Campeonato Brasileiro. It was the first edition of the competition, also known as the Brasileirão, which replaced both the Taça Brasil and the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa as the new national championship. The victory also secured the club's first participation in an official continental competition, the
1972 Copa Libertadores, in which it did not advance past the first group stage. After four trophyless years, Atlético won the state league again in 1976 and finished third in the
Campeonato Brasileiro. That season saw the emergence of a golden generation of players, formed in the club's youth academies under coach
Barbatana.
Reinaldo,
Toninho Cerezo,
Éder,
Luizinho,
Paulo Isidoro and
João Leite, players who represented Brazil at international level, were central to the team that took Atlético to six consecutive state league victories between 1978 and 1983, and to good results in the Série A. Atlético came second in the
1977 Brasileirão, losing the final to São Paulo in a
penalty shootout at the Mineirão, despite remaining undefeated for the entire season. Reinaldo, the league's top scorer in that season with an average of 1.56 goals per match, was banned from the final. By his account, this was because of his insistence on celebrating his goals by raising his fist, a political symbol that opposed the
Brazilian military government of the time. In 1978, Atlético reached the
Copa Libertadores semi-finals and won the
Copa dos Campeões Brasileiros, a tournament organised by the CBD between past winners of the Brasileirão. In a repetition of the previous year's Brasileiro decisive match, the opponent in the final of this competition was São Paulo, with Atlético this time winning a penalty shootout. In
1980, after having the best record in the first stages of the Brasileirão, Atlético lost to
Flamengo in a controversial final of the competition. Three Galo players were bizarrely sent off, among them Reinaldo, who received a straight red card after scoring twice. The team was then eliminated from the
following year's Copa Libertadores undefeated, in another decisive match marked by controversy: a play-off against Flamengo that ended after 37 minutes, following the sendings-off of five Atlético players. During the 1980s, the club participated in and won international friendly competitions, such as the
Amsterdam Tournament and the
Tournoi de Paris. Atlético had the best statistic league records of the 1980,
1983,
1985,
1986 and
1987 Brasileirão seasons, but did not win the title, falling in the finals or semi-finals of those editions. In the second half of the decade, the club continued its success in the state, winning the Campeonato Mineiro in 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989.
Continental efforts and financial turmoil (1990–2009) In the following decade, Atlético won the state league in 1991 and first saw success at continental level in 1992, when it won the inaugural
Copa CONMEBOL. The team, managed by
Procópio Cardoso, defeated Paraguay's
Olimpia in the finals to claim its first official international title. As champion of that competition, the club took part in the
1993 Copa de Oro, in which it eliminated local rival
Cruzeiro in the semi-finals but eventually lost to Argentina's
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 ended in defeat to Argentine team
Rosario Central on penalties, after Atlético won the first leg by 4–0 and lost the second one by the same score. 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 defeated Argentina's
Lanús in the finals, and won the trophy for a second time. In 1999, after another Campeonato Mineiro title, a Galo 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 administration by Atlético's presidents and deteriorating finances, which made the club one of the most indebted in Brazilian football. In 2000, Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro, 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 year, despite a good performance in the
Brasileirão with a squad that included Marques, Guilherme and
Gilberto Silva, the team was eliminated in the competition's 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. On the following year with
Levir Culpi as head coach, the club won promotion at the first attempt as Série B champion in
2006, returning to the Série A for the 2007 season. In 2009, with
Diego Tardelli in good form, Galo 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, again marked by bad administration and frequent managerial changes. played an important part in the club's resurgence after his arrival in 2012.
Resurgence and international success (2010-2017) The team won its 40th Campeonato Mineiro in 2010, but finished 13th in the
Série A. After an unsuccessful year in
2011, coming close to relegation, the arrival of
Cuca as head coach at the end of that season marked the beginning of another successful era for the club. The club moved back to the Independência in 2012, as the Mineirão was closed for renovation, and won the
Campeonato Mineiro undefeated. The arrival of
Ronaldinho in the middle of the season was an important event for the club, which eventually finished as runner-up in the
Série A and earned a spot in the
following year's Copa Libertadores. Diego Tardelli and Gilberto Silva returned to the club in 2013 and joined
Ronaldinho,
Jô and
Bernard towards another
Campeonato Mineiro triumph. The quarter-finals of that season's Copa Libertadores saw an iconic moment for Atlético, when a penalty kick was awarded to Mexican
Club Tijuana in
injury time. It would have meant elimination if it had been scored, but was saved by Atlético's goalkeeper
Victor with his left foot. The save, according to sports commentators and fans, represented the "kicking out" of the club's historic "jinx". Atlético then defeated Argentina's
Newell's Old Boys in the semi-finals and Olimpia in the
finals, both on penalties, after losing both first legs by 2–0 and winning the second ones by the same score, to achieve its first Copa Libertadores title. The club's participation in the
FIFA Club World Cup was unsuccessful, as Atlético failed to reach the final, losing to Moroccan hosts
Raja Casablanca; Galo eventually finished in third place after defeating China's
Guangzhou Evergrande. Under Levir Culpi, who returned to the club in 2014, Atlético won its first
Recopa Sudamericana, defeating Lanús for the second time in a continental
final. In that season's
Copa do Brasil, after trailing 0–3 on aggregate in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals (against Corinthians and Flamengo, respectively), Atlético made 4–3 comebacks and advanced. The competition's finals were the first at a national level to feature them and Atlético defeated Cruzeiro on both encounters to win its first Copa do Brasil. The club's successful run in the decade continued in
2015, when it won the
Campeonato Mineiro and finished second in the
Campeonato Brasileiro. In
2016, however, Atlético Mineiro ended the season without official trophies, finishing as runner-up of the
Campeonato Mineiro and the
Copa do Brasil, and in fourth place in the
Brasileiro. The club achieved its 44th Campeonato Mineiro title in
2017.
New golden age (2021–) On 2 December 2021, after finishing 3rd place in the
last edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro, Atlético won its third
Série A title after 49 years, beating Bahia in a thrilling 2–3 comeback to take the title. Less than two weeks later, on 15 December, they beat
Athletico Paranaense in the
2021 Copa do Brasil Finals after a 4–0 win at home, the largest thrash ever in a Copa do Brasil finals match, followed by a 1–2 away win to secure Galo's second Copa do Brasil trophy. On 20 February 2022, after a 2–2 draw with
Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro took the
2022 Supercopa do Brasil title after a long penalty shootout, in which Galo won 8–7. In 2024, Atlético won the
Campeonato Mineiro, beating city rivals Cruzeiro with a 5–3 aggregate score, and also finished runners-up of the
Copa do Brasil and
Copa Libertadores. In 2025, Atlético won the
2025 Campeonato Mineiro for the sixth consecutive year (2020–2025) and the 50th title, a feat that was last achieved 42 years prior (1978–83), being the second in the club's history, and also finished runners-up at the
Copa Sudamericana. ==Symbols and colours==