• Champions: from Chelsea's notice in the Metropolitano to renewed faith in Suárez

At the entrance of the Intercontinental Hotel there is a black bus parked since Sunday night.

It would be one more, if it weren't for the fact that a small sign at the bottom of the front window shows an Atlético shield.

Within the walls of the five-star enclosure, the same ones that hosted the rojiblanco team in 2012 on the eve of the Europa League final, the footballers are confined, forced to remain, like the rest of the delegation, in an anti-bubble C

ovid-19.

On the rebound, the pandemic has thrown the keys to the Metropolitan and has forced them to seek accommodation 2,500 kilometers from Madrid.

For health reasons, Chelsea was prohibited from landing in Spain.

So Simeone led the last session, bundled up, and with the casualties of

Gimenez

,

Carrasco

,

Vrsaljko

,

Herrera

Y

Trippier

, on the icy stage of the National Arena. That Atlético play tonight in Bucharest has nothing to do with superstition or romanticism.

It is simply because there was no better option.

When it began to be taken for granted that Chelsea would not be able to fly to Madrid, the rojiblanco operations team began searching a venue.

UEFA's Covid protocol requires the local team to provide a solution in case of restrictions due to the pandemic.

So the club got to work.

Italy, the first option

Not just any country was worth it.

Germany, for example, had the same limitations.

Northern Europe was ruled out by the thermometer: the temperature at the time of the game was below five degrees below zero.

The option of Belgium was illuminated, specifically the field of

Genk

, who had already savored the Champions League.

Belgium accepted from the beginning, but in the end they closed the door: they only opened to English teams if they played against another Belgian.

If Spain did not make the exception, neither did they, nor did any stadium work.

The Champions League monitors, for example, camera shots or that, in addition, a match with UEFA technology has been played before for both the VAR and the goal line.

They took a look in Slovenia, land of

Oblak

, but it was ruled out because Stoice Stadium, in

Ljubljana

Italy was always the first option, but between the Champions League and the Europa League (Milan plays on Thursday with the Red Star), only the

Juventus Stadium

.

Coincidentally, yesterday Juve played their Serie A match against him

Crotone

.

The UEFA goal technology knocked down a good part of the Italian options.

In others, the grass was not level either.

"We decided to go to the known"

So Atlético's operations team looked to Eastern Europe and Bucharest, the city where Simeone lifted his first title, prevailed over Budapest or Warsaw.

“We decided to go to the known.

We have a great memory ", they explain to this newspaper from the club.

Before closing anything, always in the hands of UEFA, the decision was communicated to

Miguel Angel Gil

(CEO), to

Andrea Berta

(sports director) and, of course, to

Simeone

.

"The worst are the four hours of flight and the time difference, but it was the best decision," they acknowledge from the entity. That yes, the move will come to Atlético by a peak.

A pinch of 200,000 euros that will come out of your pocket.

Having played the game at the Metropolitano, in this era of empty stands, would have cost just 10,000 euros.

Between the flight of the entire expedition (100,000), hotel for two and a half days (50,000), vehicles for travel in the city (10,000) and rental of the stadium (45,000), which includes gardener, cleaning and security, the adventure in Bucharest amounts to about

210,000

, according to club data.

With an audience in the Wanda, in any European game before the pandemic, the rojiblanca entity would have entered close to three million. “It is much more expensive than if we played at home.

That extra money is eaten by the club », they detail from the entity.

Among the members of this large expedition is, for example,

Dany Sanchez

, the speaker of the Metropolitan.

The club also regret that the return is at Stamford Bridge and not a neutral stadium.

"We will play as if it were our home," Simeone settled yesterday, as if he were in the Metropolitan's press room.

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