Chronicle Atlético trips over the same stone again
Diego Pablo Simeone walked thoughtfully through the pristine corridors of Leverkusen's BayArena.
Barely a week after the ecstasy against Porto, another resounding slap in the face in a city, in a field, which has made his flights back to Madrid more bitter than necessary (three defeats in four visits).
That Bayer that has started the course suffocated by doubts was able to bring down his plan in three minutes.
A board that has been conditioned since the preseason by those chains that have
Antoine Griezmann
handcuffed (192 minutes) for an hour.
Perhaps, on his thoughtful journey to the bus, he fantasized about what his Atlético would be like if
Joao Félix
(497) and Antoine, owners of an exclusive gift of clairvoyance in the squad, could spend more than a little time together on the grass.
In Germany, the loneliness of the Portuguese for an hour only found consolation in those little more than 10 minutes that both coincided.
The freshness and impetus of one coincides with the weariness of the other.
Crossed lives, unfortunately for Atlético.
"When Griezmann is on the field, the team plays better. He finds himself very well with that associative game with Joao", admitted Simeone, who claimed Joao Félix when his team played what his two geniuses dictated.
The Metropolitan already responded with anger to the premature departure of the Portuguese against Porto, minutes before the unforgettable outcome.
In the BayArena, the change again contradicted.
The connection between the two, as they showed for example at
Old Trafford
, during the last Champions League, is unquestionable.
There they scribbled between the two the main lines of a goal that was worth a pass to the quarterfinals.
They have chemistry on and off the pitch, despite the age difference (31 for the French and 22 for the Portuguese).
However, until further notice, they cannot spend much more than half an hour together.
His link in the seven official games of the season is summed up in just over 130 minutes.
20 of them, in two moments of the Champions League.
The last one, in Leverkusen, coincided with the team's most impressive moments.
They are 20 minutes of the 60 that could have coexisted in Europe because Simeone has never kept Joao until the final whistle.
It doesn't matter, as against Bayer, that he was being one of the most prominent.
In the League, there have been 110 minutes of the 150 possible.
The Portuguese has only played one full game to date: against Real Sociedad.
So the hand of the Argentine coach has also conditioned the dance, either due to fatigue or a tactical issue.
The test in Cadiz
Until now, the evening that they have lived together the longest was last Saturday against Celta.
Simeone opted for both to enter together, half an hour from the end, with the score 2-0.
The team responded with joy and speed, and ended up galloping the light blue team (4-1).
Both, connected, devised the epilogue.
When the summer stretched out, Simeone already knew first-hand what Griezmann's reality would be.
His name even floated in the market for several passages.
A toll accepted without question by the parties involved.
Even so, during the friendly preparation match against Cádiz, the Argentine coach showed what went through his head under normal circumstances: a trident with
Morata
, Joao Felix and Griezmann.
Obviously, depending on the rival and the scenario.
The normal thing is that the stamp would not have remained an anecdote, but the epigraphs of Antoine's contract, together with the economic hardships of Atlético, have forced them to agree on a vaudeville in the 60th minute of each game.
A ruse to avoid the payment of the 40 million that they agreed with Barcelona, just over a year ago, in the event that the Frenchman played 45 minutes in 50% of the games in his second season.
Griezmann, during the match against Bayer.SASCHA STEINBACHEFE
Tuesday dawned with information from 'L'Équipe' about an imminent agreement with Barça to reduce the amount to 25 million and avoid the show.
At the gates of the Radisson Blu hotel in Cologne, Atlético's headquarters in Germany, no one at the rojiblanco club claimed to know any details of that possible negotiation.
"Neither have we met with them nor do we have news that we are going to meet," said
Enrique Cerezo
, president of the entity.
That agreement is the only way to release the team on the pitch.
The set-up in Ibiza
"Antoine gives us things that others do not have, but the situation is complicated," they insist in the offices of the Metropolitan, where maximum secrecy is maintained regarding the matter.
The imminent national team break, two months before the World Cup, could lead to a meeting point that would clarify Simeone's mind.
It is no coincidence that, beyond their quality, both Joao and Griezmann are two of the fittest players on the team.
The two combined their vacations in Ibiza with a set-up for the most demanding pre-season of their careers.
The Frenchman, who had already been warned about the situation he would find himself in Madrid, resorted to the UD Ibiza facilities to get up to the start of the season in full physical form.
The door of the Portuguese hotel was pounded every morning, always at nine o'clock, by a physical trainer who has helped him polish his body to sustain the usual rival attacks.
The result: Antoine, despite the limitations, adds three goals and is the top scorer together with Morata;
Joao has three assists (one to Antoine) and wastes leadership.
But happiness is not complete.
Neither for them nor, by extension, for Atlético.
At least not for now.
No, while the paths of both have to cross.
In Leverkusen, the price was expensive and, perhaps, it was a lesson for the next derby against Real Madrid.
Perhaps on Tuesday night, in the corridors of the BayArena, Simeone was thinking about the possibility of making an exception for Griezmann.
To take a step forward.
The occasion deserves it.
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Articles Carlos Guisasola
Atletico Madrid
football