From the refrigerator that was the Salzburg mansion last night, Atlético escaped with a warm heart and intact dreams.

In that cold cage they had gotten themselves, paying for their lack of aim, and they alone escaped, without bruises, recovering in Europe part of the lethal instinct that propels them like a rocket in the League they command.

It was a night of uncertainty and suffering that until the last both of

Carrasco

did not calm down.

Although being in the round of 16 was a must, the passport, in that uncertain final episode in the harsh Austrian winter, ended up knowing redemption.

There will be time to think about the ogres that now appear in their journey through this Champions League.

Sitting on the shore, after navigating a rough sea, it is best to breathe and release all the contained air before an unexpected finale.

Of a final that, fortunately, is already part of the past.

Accustomed to the cold, the Salzburg players only needed a few moments to warm up.

In just two minutes,

Berisha

had shrunk the soul and heart of Atlético with a crossed shoe that ran into the post, to the red-and-white fortune.

Without entering the game, he could have plunged into a nightmare.

But the coin fell on the side of the face to those of

Simeone

, who took too long to carbure.

It was the worst possible start, at the worst time.

In two minutes life could turn around.

Because Atlético landed shaky and Salzburg, who smelled it, launched in search of their destiny.

Koita

and

Daka

were a headache for the centrals.

And

Szoboszlai

forced

Oblak

to

stretch out

his glove like bubble gum.

Up to four auctions were given away by the Austrians with hardly any disheveled.

They were very clear about their plan.

They have always been a free soul that, far from committing themselves to classical music, they do it fully to rock.

It took Atlético a while to recognize itself in front of the mirror.

Again the European version seemed to blur his Herculean figure in the League.

They were bullets that whistled relentlessly.

Every breath of a rojiblanco player was a perfect alibi to unleash a lightning attack.

Of all this, after the intense experience in the Metropolitan, they were warned.

Little by little, those of Simeone were ironing a too wrinkled shirt until that moment.

Llorente

, of course, waved the whip a couple of times, while Luis Suárez did not stop warning of his uncheckles loudly.

The curse of the charrúa away from home in Champions would end up adding one more episode.

And they have already been 24 since 2015. Precisely Llorente could have hit the target, after a gross error by

Wöber

in the area.

The return of the set piece

But sometimes the old remedies are the best solution to problems.

So Atlético looked in their suitcase and found an old resource, which seemed to be part of the past.

From the sweetest past with Simeone at the helm.

The stopped ball, which seemed to have fallen into oblivion, gave the rojiblancos a good bonfire in the ice.

Carrasco's precise boot found the head of Hermoso, who could not choose a better occasion and better scenario to debut as a rojiblanco scorer.

His shot, on the way to rest, appeased a team that walked the wire for a long time.

Suddenly, after respite, he found another arrow from Salzburg.

And this, like the previous ones, also whistled the rojiblanca goal.

The graceful Szoboszlai stepped into the area until he was staring into Oblak's eyes.

A look that not everyone is able to bear.

Neither did he, who ended up crossing a ball that would have forced Atlético to go back to living bordering the precipice.

Savic

,

Felipe

and

Hermoso

experienced one of the busiest nights of this course.

But, of course, the forcefulness is the boss.

And this time the forceful ones, despite the hot flashes, were the rojiblancos.

Atlético never lived calmly because the burly Red Bull boys did not show the slightest sign of fatigue.

As if the thing was not with them.

Simeone looked for some oxygen and head with the entry of Herrera, to take over from an imprecise Saúl, and another bit of opportunism with Correa's, since Suárez had already exhausted his tank.

By then, the locals had already tried their luck on Oblak's goal 15 times.

Only Bayern, at the start of the competition, had demanded so intensely from the athletic rear.

But, as has been written, Salzburg are far, far away from the all-powerful German team.

Atlético had to grit their teeth until the end, with Salzburg entrusted to the siege.

Until Carrasco, with the umpteenth assistance from Correa, said there was nothing more to discuss.

As the station wagon says: "You don't have to get there first (or yes), but you have to know how to get there."

And it came, with suffering, but it came.

It was surely the most stifling group stage of the Simeone era.

But now what difference does it make.

The hype will not ask for explanations.

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