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It must have been around two in the morning on Thursday when the last Metropolitan employee walked out the door.

At that time, a stadium was closing that could not reopen in the Champions League until September 2022. These are the consequences of what, in the absence of that

in Porto, is the worst group stage of the nine consecutive that Atlético has played since

took a seat on the bench.

In less than a month it will be a decade of that.

However, the Champions League, that so often open wound on the Argentine coach's skin, threatens to cloud the anniversary.

"I am more optimistic than ever because we are still alive", was his last word and the mantra that two weeks from now (December 7), when the team visits Do Dragao, will surround every corner of the stadium and Cerro del Espino de Majadahonda, where the team trains.

The reality is that Atlético has gotten into a good mess.

And he has done it by piling up, one after another, a handful of negative records.

Never before had he come across only four points at this point

. A draw against Porto and that agonizing comeback at the San Siro were the anticipation of three slaps in a row. In 2017, during the famous Qarabag Champions League and the

to the Europa League, the rojiblancos added five points. A year earlier, in 2016, after five victories in five games (15), one of them against Bayern

, they had already secured the lead. In euros, the matter translates into only 3.7 million out of 14 possible, like those that, for example, Liverpool has pocketed.

He had never before been seen with seven goals against after five games

.

What's more, on the way to the Lisbon final, in that first adventure in the Simeone Champions League (2013/14), they received six in 12 games.

And seven fit into the journey to the final in Milan, in 2016.

He had never lost two games before at the Metropolitano

.

In fact, the only defeat in Europe took place on the day of its premiere, against Chelsea (1-2).

Until the desecration of Liverpool and Milan, nobody (not even Bayern) had been able to get out of the rojiblanco enclosure with flying colors.

Obviously, Atlético had not lost three times in the same phase either.

Only four goals

And only once, in that 2017 that did not end well, did he add as few targets as he has now. Four claws (three from Griezmann) squeezed to the last drop to reach the final in Porto with options. Only six of the 26 teams have had less success. In his 11 European games with Atlético, Luis Suárez, the team's top scorer, has only scored one goal. Penalty, in Milan.

But hesitations in the Champions League are not new. The affair comes from afar. Paradoxically, of that magical March 11, 2020. That night at Anfield, that of

explosion

and the officialization of the pandemic, Atlético's life in Europe became uncomfortable. It is not an opinion. The numbers sing. If the growth in the League after the stoppage due to the virus is undeniable, so is the decline in continental competition. With Wednesday's against Milan, he accumulates

. An upsetting journey where defense is no longer a virtue and the punch is still under suspicion: 20 goals against and 12 in favor.

Marcos Llorente.REUTERS

For comparison, in the 14 episodes prior to that indelible assault on the European champion's garden, the rojiblancos added eight victories (against Juventus, Liverpool or Borussia Dortmund), two draws and four defeats.

In this journey they achieved 18 goals and conceded 13. From that balance of +5 to this, blushing, of -8.

Looking back, those 26 goals for and 10 against (four in the Lisbon final) in the 13 games of Cholo's first season in the Champions League (13/14) seem from another galaxy.

It is an enigma what happened after Anfield, in that parenthesis due to the coronavirus, since

.

And although in the offices of the Metropolitan they have insisted since 2013 that the important thing is to qualify each year for the Champions League, so that the numbers fit, not being in the round of 16 would be a pinch for the pocket.

There are

, apart from the fact that the

would

due to the lower number of games played.

The fact is that,

.

He will have to win in Porto.

But, in addition, if Milan defeat Liverpool, they will have to do it by a little more than the Italians.

And that, seeing the red and white sweats in this sinking Champions League, does not seem like an easy task.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• sports

• soccer

• Champions League

• Atlético de Madrid

• Diego Simeone

ChampionsThe martyrdom of Torres, the warmth of Griezmann and the resignation of Simeone: "I'm bitter"

ChampionsAnfield swallows Atlético

ChampionsUEFA, implacable with Griezmann, also falls against Milan

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