Dejected after Atletico Madrid’s extra-time Champions League loss to rivals Real Madrid, Diego Simeone cut himself off from the world. Tormented by their dramatic defeat, he vowed never to experience such trauma. He would never lose to Real Madrid again. After painstaking weeks of thought and analysis hunched over his desk staring bleakly at a tactics board, he did it. He devised the perfect tactic to stop the seemingly unstoppable side controlled by the mastermind Carlo Ancelotti.
Maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that, but the end result is very much the same. An Atletico Madrid team who know how to consistently beat their fierce rivals Real. The two sides have met six times since that fateful day in Portugal at the end of May. Los Blancos haven’t won a single one.
Somehow, the Argentine has found a way to consistently outclass his opposite number in el Derbi, though none of his victories had been as emphatic or dominant as Saturday's win.
Even the loss of Koke after 10 minutes did not foil Atleti’s plans. Simeone thought he better call Saul – Saul Niguez that is, who emerged from the bench and scored the pick of the home side’s four goals with a tremendous overhead kick.
Often accused of being over-bearing and aggressive, Los Colchoneros instead provided the artistry and craft, while Real chased down in vain. But this performance was as much about Atletico’s mastery as it was Real’s lethargy.
Without three of the first choice back four, there were always going to be defensive frailties about Madrid for Simeone’s side to exploit. Raphael Varane and Nacho formed and unconvincing centre-back pairing, with Fabio Coentrao making only his third League start of the season. It is of little surprise Atleti ran rampant.
In an attacking sense, Real lost James Rodriguez but Cristiano Ronaldo was back from his ban yet looked as if he enjoyed his time off a little too much. The 30-year-old went the full 90 minutes without a shot, cross, key pass or successful take-on to speak of. It was arguably his worst-ever performance in a Los Blancos shirt.
Little better could be said of his cohorts Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, who were well marshalled by the Atletico back line. Ronaldo described his team as ‘not fresh physically and mentally’ after the loss. It seems almost an inevitability given the amount of football played this season.
Real Madrid have only failed to score in a match three times this season. All three of those matches took place at Vicente Calderon. Cholo’s ability to silence one of Europe’s most feared strike forces on a regular basis is commendable. His side are stalwarts at the back, and free-scoring Real are no different to most teams in their inability to penetrate the Atleti rear-guard.
The result has seriously opened up the title race in Spain. A Barcelona win against struggling Athletic Bilbao takes them to within a point of the leaders, with Atletico very much still in the mix.
After years of torment at the hands of their city rivals, it seems Cholo Simeone and Atletico Madrid finally have a cure for the Real Madrid virus which plagued them for so long.
