All the way through, as the weeks and months racked up with his team still in pole position, Cholo Simeone argued they wouldn't be able to win it. Everyone agreed. There was no way Atlético Madrid would be able to stay the course and prise La Liga from the monied grip of the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. Then results started to falter - for all three teams. Real were first to lose touch; three games without a win and they were out of the race even if they won on the last day (and they did, 3-1). Barcelona had drawn two in a row ahead of the final game of the season but still had the title within their grasp - all they had to do was beat Atleti and they'd win the league. At home. In front of a packed Camp Nou with just 447 away fans shunted precariously up in the heavens. Atleti had also faltered; no wins in the last two games, draws becoming easier to come by than wins. However, just one more draw would secure their first title since 1996, when Cholo was out on the pitch rather than in the dugout, and the omens were good - they hadn't lost to Barca in five meetings already this season.
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| The lucky 447 |
Barcelona had been looking shaky of late, the positive results they did pick up coming courtesy of strange own-goals and lucky let-offs. They did not look far better in front of their partisan home crowd on Saturday either but were handed a massive boost when both Diego Costa and Arda Turan had to come off injured before the game was 25 minutes old. With Atleti's star players tear-struck on the bench, Barcelona proceeded to take the lead in emphatic style with an audacious, barnstorming goal from the otherwise bland-as-light mayonnaise Alexis Sánchez. The Chilean received a knock-down from the sluggish-looking Messi in the area just after the half-hour mark and blasted the ball past La Liga goalkeeper of the season Thibaut Courtois from an acute angle into the roof of the net. No-one on earth could've stopped that strike, not even the Zamora winner. However, despite getting their noses in front Barcelona never really looked like extending their lead and became increasingly frustrated, typified by both alleged World Cup enthusiast Messi and man-rat experiment Sergio Busquets being booked at half time for dissent.
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| Godín goal |
I couldn't say for sure what Simeone told his team at half-time but I'm positive it involved swearing. A lot of swearing. Whatever he said, it had the desired effect as Atleti equalised within 5 minutes of the restart. They could have actually scored even before that as they lay siege to pirate Pinto's goal straight from kick-off, but eventually pulled level when Diego Godín launched himself skywards and smacked a header past the despairing 'keeper from a Gabi corner. The few hundred Atleti fans in the stands went berserk while (most of) the rest of the country prayed for the result to stay this way. They all will have had their hearts in their mouths when Messi did find the net, but the diminutive Argentine was flagged offside, calming fears of nationwide palpitations.
Pipped to the league by that solitary equalising goal, it has to be said the fans in Camp Nou were magnanimous in defeat. At the final whistle all sides of the stadium rose and applauded the victors, sensing the fact they had seen the culmination of something special. The match may not have proved a classic, but the season definitely was. And hey, at least the Madrid they'd lost the title to was Atético and not Real, right? In
Marca, the only Barcelona player to receive a half-decent rating was the possibly-outgoing Javier Mascherano who was awarded 6.5 out of 10. Iniesta got 5.5, Pedrito got 4 and Messi got 3. Conversely, every single Atleti player was scored as either a 9 or a 10 with the exception of Costa and Turan, both of whom got 7s. OK, this is
Marca we're talking about and the markings, while way over-egged, are not to be unexpected.
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| The Atleti-dominated team of the season |
The performance typified Atleti's entire season; their team ethic, their determination and their leader on the sidelines, the man who played for Atlético both when they'd last won the championship and when they re-emerged from the purgatory of the Segunda División in 2003. Just to reiterate the point, seven Atleti players made the Liga BBVA team of the season; Courtois, Filipe Luis, Godín, Juanfran, Gabi, Koke and Diego Costa. No Barcelona players whatsoever were included while Real Madrid's only representative was CR7, who also claimed the Pichichi trophy. Ander Iturraspe and Aymeric Laporte of Athletic Bilbao also made the cut, as did Sevilla's highly impressive Croatian Ivan Rakitić, who in my opinion was the player of the season outright and now looks set to be bombarded with offers of heavy bags of money from Real Madrid over the summer.
At the final whistle Cholo was enveloped in a bear hug by Germán 'Mono' Burgos, the ever-expanding former Atleti keeper, finally being disgorged to display a wide, almost manic smile. After repeatedly denying his team could do it, they'd finally done it. Nothing could dampen the Argentine manager's spirits. When it emerged that the team would not be presented with the league title trophy because Ángel María Villar, the president of the Spanish Football Federation, was unable to attend the match, Simeone smiled again and said "that doesn't matter, they can't take it off us". No, Cholo, they cannot indeed.
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| All whores free!!! |
Despite the absence of the league trophy, reportedly over 200,000 Colchoneros turned out in Madrid for the title procession. The city was painted white and red, where it is historically more used to being painted simply white. They lined the route for miles, perched on any vantage point they could find or riding alongside on mopeds, and the parade eventually culminated at the Fountain of Neptune, which has seen a lot more action in recent years than its counterpart a short walk away at Cibeles. They partied well into the night, and some of the players promised they would be back in a week's time to celebrate victory over la Real in the Champions League final as well. Many partied well into the night in Valencia too, although some were working overtime: brothel D'Angelo Palace had taken out an advert in the paper during the week promising
"If Atlético Madrid win the league, all whores free!!!", as well as offering free drinks during the game itself. I imagine the owner will have been left feeling bruised the next day. Not half as much as his employees though...
In the aftermath of Atleti's victory, Tata Martino bade goodbye to the team, stepping down after admitting it had been 'a privilege' to be part of the set-up at Barcelona. He was replaced with Real Madrid turncoat Luis Enrique. I can see the sense in the move; it's similar to when they appointed Pep Guardiola to the role. Before leaving for first-team manager positions elsewhere, Enrique had been the Barca B coach. The first team is widely accepted to be in need of a revamp or overhaul, and he will know the players coming through now from his time with them when they were younger. Not many will know better than he who, if any, of them is poised or able to become the next Xavi, Puyol etc. Plus he'll add another extra niggle to next season's Clásicos.
Saturday afternoon brings the game of the season outside of La Liga, with two of the very best teams in the league facing each other in a one-off encounter. To the victor go the spoils and the glory. But enough about QPR at Wembley as they prepare to take on Derby, Saturday also sees Real Madrid take on Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final. As has been pointed out before, this is the first ever final between two teams from the same city. Real are still chasing la Décima, their tenth European Cup, while Atleti are playing for their first. Los Rojiblancos have reached the final just once before, in 1974 when they lost 4-0 to Bayern Munich in a replay after drawing 1-1 after extra time in the first game.
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| Costa & Turan; both hairy and important |
Atleti's biggest injury concern is over star
Brazilian Spanish striker Diego Costa and European beard-champion Arda Turan. The influential pair were back to training with a football by early Thursday afternoon before joining the main group for a short while, but remain touch and go for the final. Costa had previously flown to Serbia for special horse placenta treatment. Well you would, wouldn't you? I know he's liable to try anything to make sure he plays in the biggest game of his career, but surely this doctor's taking him for a ride?
As CR7 and Bale both seem to have recovered sufficiently from their injuries, Real's major doubt rests with Pepe; the central defender has formed a formidable double-act with Sergio Ramos in the centre of defence. As well as being one of the best partnerships in the modern game, they must also Shirley be the most despised bar none. Nevertheless for all the cheating, handstamping, diving, whining, attempted murders and more diving, Pepe is a class defender on his day and would be missed by Ancelotti. The Italian's eyebrow need not leap into a dance of frustration just yet though, as youngster Raphaël Varane could regain fitness in time to deputise. The Frenchman was brilliant last season but has found it difficult to disrupt the Pepe/Ramos axis of evil this time round. If he starts, lump on him for the first goal - there's my tip. Karim Benzema is expected to start after recovering from injury.
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| Alonso: out |
Xabi Alonso, however, will definitely miss out after needlessly collecting a second booking in the semi-final second-leg with his team 4-0 up on aggregate. This rule should definitely be scrapped - the only reason a player should miss the final of any competition, apart from injury or just being John Terry, should be a red card in the previous match. Finals are showcase events and supporters and spectators - sorry FIFA, consumers - want to see the best players out there. Minor rant over.
As a seperate nice touch, Atlético's specially-made shirts for the final will carry the name of deceased club legend Luis Aragonés inside the collar. The man who Cholo said he could feel defending with the team in the closing stages against Barcelona last week is a massive part of the history of los Colchoneros having played with great distinction for the club for a decade. Despite being best known on these shores solely for his
negro de mierda comments about World Cup cheat Thierry Henry to José Antonio Reyes ahead of an international game, Aragonés has the seventh-most appearances for Atleti, with 372, and is the club's all-time top scorer with 173 goals. He also managed the club over four separate spells totalling 17 years, helping the team escape the Seguna División in his last spell. He also set the Spanish international team on its way to winning absolutely everything.
I apologise that this post wasn't as in-depth a look at either the big game last week or the upcoming Champions League final on Saturday as I would've liked, but I've been looking forward to watching QPR at Wembley all week - I can't really concentrate on anything else. The scheduling also means I either won't watch the Champions League final at all, or may watch it and not remember a great deal, depending on the Rangers result! So the next post may be on something completely unrelated. Soz. I promise to make up for it with a good 'un though, scouts honour :P
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Charlie, Charlie Charlie,
Charlie Charlie,
Charlie Charlie Austin!! |
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