• Opinion.The Champions asks Atleti to surrender

The Champions does not understand tradition or history. The years of a shield do not matter. The important thing is the courage to run in search of it. And last night Atlético never seemed to want to throw themselves into the arms of that cup that will have to wait for a better occasion. If there is, of course. Again he fell to the precipice in Lisbon, a cursed city already in the history of the rojiblanco team, which barely had any answers for the intense fight that the Leipzig wolves proposed. Those of Simeone fell off the cliff when they thought they had the sky within their reach. A slap in August that will hurt for quite some time.

The tarps don't beat. They give color and hide the emptiness but they do not vibrate and they shudder when the ball, their own or someone else's, prowls with bad intentions. The sun was still embedded in a good part of the corners of the José Alvalade, when the chords of the Champions League enveloped a stadium that, like the rest of the planet, did not expect to find itself in such a situation because of a virus. Hence, the opening whistle of the Polish Szymon Marciniak , the same one who served as a notary in that Atlético Europa League in Lyon (2018), was felt almost on the busy asphalt that borders the Sporting green and white enclosure. There lay a team that seemed destined to write the best symphony in its history.

With that same black uniform with which Anfield left in silence, Atlético appeared, five months later, in front of a Leipzig without the history or tradition of Liverpool, but with enough vitality and football to continue shouting in Europe. The suffocating intentions of the German team should not have taken them by surprise, because Simeone does not usually leave anything unleashed. But for a long time, the Nagelsmann boys , with Kampl's blonde ponytail as their helm, did an intense dance alongside the ball. Only Carrasco, whose right hand came the most poisonous shot of his team at the start, and Lodi , from the left side, put some strain on the hearts of the dedicated Germans. De Marcos Llorente , author of that beautiful story with Mersey and pillar in the second act of LaLiga, was slow to be seen.

A Diego Costa , always happy to great battles, his lot was the burly Upamecano , that did not stop reminding him that was out there. The striker's back, with each ball on his back, was left for a restful visit to the workshop. The French central, apart from the shadow of Costa, was the first to launch his spirited teammates into a stampede. No one could beat him all night. An organized group in continuous agitation, seamlessly interpreting the libretto of the young messiah who guides them from the bench. Leipzig pushed, yes, it came out like lightning, yes, it shook with energy, yes, but the truth is that Oblak , who does not understand superstitions, hence his yellow from head to toe with the number 13 on his back, observed with a frozen pulse how the balls passed in that small kingdom where only he commands.

Savic had time to open his head in search of a ball in the center of the field that seemed inconsequential. And, as if his monumental collision with Halstenberg had been a tickle, the first thing he did, with his head well bandaged, was to jump for the first ball that approached him. There are situations in life that are not negotiated and he knows them well. Together with Giménez he had to repel Leipzig's onslaught just as, alongside Felipe , on that night at Anfield, he had to raise the wall against the most offensive team on the continent.

Atlético was slow and leaden. Neither Koke nor Herrera had time to come up with something to breathe with. Even Dani Olmo , that kid who could have dressed as a rojiblanco, popping out like lightning, drew a stab with his head that not even Oblak managed to scare away and brought the Madrid team out of its reverie. Again running on the wire, as in that distant and happy last night of Champions.

It was time for Joao Félix , back to his beloved Lisbon, and Atlético's cables, stripped until that moment, were reconnected. Nothing better than the imagination of a child to forget the precipice. Suddenly he spotted a gap between that herd of brave bulls and he entered as if nothing had happened until he started the penalty with which he brought his team back to life. With him, everything seemed to make sense again. But it was only a few moments. Atlético looked back again and, boxed in again, ended up falling into the void, rebounding and at sunset. How it hurts the most.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Athletic of Madrid
  • Champions League

Champions League 2020Two positives at Atlético de Madrid hours before taking the plane to Lisbon

FootballA sprained ankle clouds Mbappé's future in the Champions League

Serie A Sassuolo's misfortune with VAR: four goals canceled against Napoli

See links of interest

  • Last minute
  • Spanish translator
  • Programming
  • 2020 calendar
  • Horoscope today
  • League classification
  • Santander League Calendar
  • Movies Today
  • Topics
  • Leipzig - Atlético de Madrid, live