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They host Arsenal on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-finals chasing redemption after their crushing Copa del Rey final defeat little over a week ago.
Atletico Madrid
and Diego Simeone have regularly tasted the sting of disappointment, even in
what is the club’s golden age.
They host
Arsenal on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-finals chasing redemption
after their crushing Copa del Rey final defeat little over a week ago.
Tens of
thousands of Atletico fans travelled down to Seville only to go home
empty-handed, just as they did in the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals against
bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Atletico have
never won Europe’s premier competition, also beaten in their other final
appearance in 1974.
They can take a
first step towards a fourth final against Mikel Arteta’s side this week, in
which they are celebrating the club’s 123rd anniversary.
In their first
game back home after the Copa final disappointment, on Saturday against
Athletic Bilbao, Atletico’s fans gave the team a cold reception.
“The fans
don’t need messages (from me), what they need is to win,” noted Simeone,
Atletico’s most decorated manager, in Seville.
However by the
end of the team’s 3-2 victory over Athletic, only their second in the last nine
games across all competitions, the mood had lightened.
“We have to
get up from that blow and give everything to get to the final,” key
striker Julian Alvarez said on Monday.
The Arsenal tie
offers a route to immediate atonement, and by Wednesday the atmosphere will be
frenzied, intoxicating, as it was for the quarter-final elimination of
Barcelona.
Atletico are no
longer at the Vicente Calderon but the Metropolitano stadium is just as
intense, louder still, with the increased capacity.
Opened in 2017,
it obviously does not have the history of its predecessor — that will take
time, and intense performances on nights like these, to build.
“Congratulations
Atletico — if you beat Arsenal, then the (anniversary) celebration will be
perfect,” wrote Madrid newspaper AS.
The Rojiblancos’
support are the loudest in Spain and Simeone called on them to give his team
the edge against the Premier League leaders.
“Atletico
have struggled to reach the Champions League semi-finals and finals,” explained
the coach.
“We’ve
built this success through hard work and the support of our fans.
“We need
them now more than ever, and hopefully, we can give them what they want on the
pitch.”
Courage and heart
When the
conditions are right, at the Metropolitano Atletico have proven they can
dismantle any side.
They blitzed
Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, a lead which proved
unassailable, and romped to a 5-2 derby victory over Real Madrid there earlier
this season.
Those matches,
along with many others, should have put to bed the myth that Simeone’s team
play the same, dour, defensive football which was the bedrock of their success
in the first half of his 14-year reign.
What is
non-negotiable though, now, then and always for Simeone, is his team’s
intensity, work-rate and competitiveness, and capacity to suffer when they need
to against superior opponents.
“We’ve
reached this point by competing the way we have — nothing has stopped us so
far,” said Simeone.
“Coraje y
corazon” –courage and heart – is the team’s motto and even when on the
attack, Atletico look to cause damage with their power and speed.
The coach’s son,
Giuliano Simeone, Marcos Llorente and Alexander Sorloth are dynamic,
hard-hitting attackers, while even talented talisman Antoine Griezmann works
his socks off.
“If you
don’t run, you’re coming off tomorrow,” Simeone joked, while sitting next
to Griezmann at a recent press conference.
Alvarez, who hit
the woodwork twice in the 4-0 league phase defeat by Arsenal in October, said
he is “100 percent” fit, but they will miss injured energetic
midfielder Pablo Barrios.
“Both teams
have evolved a lot since then,” said Llorente.
Beating Athletic
might be the morale boost the team needed to head into the Arsenal game with
confidence and belief.
“It’s good
to win again after a negative run,” said Atletico’s all-time top
goalscorer Griezmann, leaving the club in the summer for MLS side Orlando City.
“It will be
a very important match (against Arsenal), we have to be calm, relaxed, knowing
that we can do it…
“I’m
enjoying these last few games here. I hope I can gift something incredible to
the fans.”
As Simeone
observed, for all the sweat and grit his team have offered, the gift they need
to give is silverware.
