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For a glorious 25 minutes, Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid gave a mighty scare to their city-based, more glamourous, neighbours, Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions league semifinal. Chasing a first-leg deficit of 3-0, the home team went 2-0 up with just sixteen minutes on the clock courtesy a Saul Niguez bullet header and an Antoine Griezmann penalty. Somehow, their neighbours gave them the slip through their midfield maestros and delivered the killer blow at the end of the first half with an away goal. Atlético needed three more goals to qualify — the same number they needed at the start of the match to achieve parity. The last Madrid derby match at the Vicente Calderon was duly done and dusted.
In the dugout was the Argentine club legend and coach, Diego Simeone, who was willing his team and his fans on to fight the good fight against the more fancied opposition. Diego Simeone had been snapped up by Atlético Madrid from Sevilla in 1994, and took over as coach in 2011. He was part of the team which had won the double of Spain’s La Liga and the Copa del Rey in the 1995-96 season. During his playing career, Simeone was renowned as a combative, box-to-box midfielder who had a penchant for scoring goals. His street-smart (though underhand) nature came to the fore in the 1998 World cup, where his theatrics following a David Beckham retaliation to his foul earned the latter an infamous red card. Simeone specialised in the dark arts, both as a player and as a manager.
If one were to step back and look at the larger narrative surrounding the Madrid derby in the UEFA Champions league semifinals, it was one of class conflict. Real Madrid were the glamour team of the city for the last few decades — racking up a glittering array of trophies for their club cabinet. Naturally, they were able to attract more supporters, superstar players and more resources as a consequence of their continued success. Real Madrid’s stadium — the Santiago Bernabéu — is situated in a plush neighbourhood. In contrast, Atlético Madrid’s trophy cabinet is relatively bare; their Vicente Calderon is near a brewery, alongside the Manazares river. Their fanbase has been traditionally drawn from the working class. Atlético fans often deride their Real counterparts as glory-hunters and bandwagoners.
Atlético Madrid fans pride themselves in their suffering. Their president Vicente Caldreon (after whom their present stadium was named) had nicknamed the team “El Pupas” (or the jinxed ones). A famous jinx was the 1974 European cup final, when they were leading 1-0 in extra time against the mighty Bayern Munich (who would go on to win a hat-trick of trophies) — a freak 40-yard goal by Schwarzenbeck denied them their first ever UEFA Champions League trophy. Jinx number two was in 2014, when Atlético were similarly up 1-0 until the 93rd minute. Sergio Ramos headed a Luka Modric corner to force extra time, and they were broken and ripped apart by Real Madrid.
In the first leg of the semifinal which ended 3-0 earlier this season, Real fans mocked their rivals with a “Tell me how it feels” giant banner, alluding to the 2014 and 2016 Champions league final victories achieved against their city rivals, and to the absence of the big European trophy in their cabinet. In contrast, Atlético fans unfurled their own banner, claiming “Proud not to be like you”, pointing to their working-class roots. The pre-match chatter prompted Sergio Ramos to clarify that Real Madrid’s humble players were not born in Beverly Hills. Therefore, the match against Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid — as is the case with many footballing derbies — is anything but a normal contest.
Looking back at their progress in the last five-and-a-half years, Atlético Madrid can be mightily proud of their achievements of regularly dining at the high table of European football with much lesser resources and lesser-known players.
Until Deigo Simeone arrived on the scene as a manager, the Madrid derby was quite laughable as a matchup. After the 1995-96 double, the Atlético in the 1999-00 season and got relegated to the second division. After their famous 3-1 victory against Real in 1998-99, they would next win against Real in the league only in the 2014-15 season; the results were far worse in cup ties. To give an extent of Real’s hold over their neighbours, Fernando Torres, the striker (whose boyhood club was Atlético) didn't know the feeling of victory against Real Madrid until he scored a couple of goals in his second stint in the 2014-15 season. Barring a Europa league and a UEFA Super Cup triumph, the club had nothing to show for the period between 1999-00 and Simeone's taking over as coach.
All that would change under Simeone’s watch. Atlético would transform from also-rans to a nasty headache. The team would now play in a spirit embodying Diego Simeone’s playing style — terrier-like, nipping at the heels of bigger rivals and combating them with their stifling, intensive style. Another UEFA Europa League would be felled in 2011-12, and then Chelsea for dinner at the Super Cup. The Real Madrid hex would be lifted in 2012-13, where they would win against them in extra time at the Santiago Bernabéu, no less. Next season, they would go one better, winning the league in Barcelona’s den by securing a draw under difficult circumstances (losing the influential Arda Turan and Diego Costa to injury, and trailing after the 33rd minute). It was the first time in over a decade that the winner was not Real Madrid or Barcelona.
They would regularly thwart heavyweights in big matches — Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea to name a few — and end up in the deep end of the European club tournament. But their local rivals would hold the advantage in European matches and knock them out for four years running. The previous defeat before this one had hurt — Simeone considered moving on after the 2016 Champions league final. One year later, at a lesser but similar juncture, a shift to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium signals an end of an era.
And what a glorious era it was. Looking back at their progress in the last five-and-a-half years, Atlético Madrid can be mightily proud of their achievements of regularly dining at the high table of European football with much lesser resources and lesser-known players. Many in the squad seem destined for richer clubs and greener pastures. Simeone too may move on to a side like Inter Milan — a former side that he has professed his love for on more than one occasion. Who knows, a new challenge with a beloved side who yearn to return to the top might spur him to take the plunge, just like he did with Atlético.
Regardless of what happens this summer, Atlético Madrid’s new era at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium will begin with their status as a champion team, earned under their Argentine saviour. Rightly, this era will be looked back fondly as their own version of AD — After Diego.
