Joao Miranda and that broken curse that threatens Atlético again: "My headed goal changed history"

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• Copa del Rey Table and results

14 years (and 25 games) of white victories, like a stigma that was broken on May 17, 2013, a magical night at the Santiago Bernabéu, a header in extra time for the eternal iconography of Atlético de Madrid.

«I knew that the time had come to win the derbies again.

My header goal changed history”, now reminds El MUNDO

, the hero of that Copa del Rey.

To that memory of the

that turned the course, Atlético will grab this Thursday for a duel, also at the Bernabéu (9:00 p.m., La 1), which appears to him as an abyss.

The cup tournament, still in the quarterfinals, as salvation from a season full of potholes and with the threat of being completely ruined before the end of January.

Because now the ghosts return.

's team has not even scored

a goal since April 2018 (1-1 in the League), precisely

, the same one who scored in the last triumph, already distant that February 2016 (0-1).

A decade ago, the insults and humiliations accumulated, summed up in a stinging banner in the Chamartín stands: «A worthy rival is sought for a decent derby.

Reason here."

Miranda recalls from her family vacation at Disney: "My children's friends hesitated at school because they believed that Real Madrid was going to win again."

The defender, who a few weeks ago announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 38, after a brilliant career in which, in addition to being a rojiblanca legend -178 games, five titles and, together with

, the key center-back pair of the it was Simeone-, he was the captain of Brazil in the World Cup in Russia, he picked up

's center at the near post (now the only survivor together with

) and beat

to the ecstasy of a

who apologized on the TVE broadcast.

Not in vain, that seemed too similar to his feat in 1992.

"This goal changed everything because there was a curse.

Atlético won the derbies again, returned with the greats of Europe.

The curse is over », Miranda admits about the « most important » goal of his career, the one that gave « priceless joy to the fans ».

It was one of his 13 goals with the rojiblanca shirt (another was in the Super Cup final won against Chelsea), of an always discreet guy, leader from the silence of that locker room.

And that in 2015 he headed for Inter for 15 million.

"The time had come"

«It had been 14 years since Atlético had won, they reminded us at all hours.

And we knew the importance and that the time had come”, continues the one from Paranavaí, who values ​​a unique train crash in the world “For me, this is the Spanish derby.

It's a beautiful match, with a very beautiful atmosphere.

The Atlético fans are hot fans and they live it madly.

I am in love with Atlético and I know the importance of this derby, for me, one of the most beautiful of my career, "says who, however, admits that his career, which ended in another of the clubs of his life, Sao Paulo, he was left with the thorn of the Champions League that he had so close to, also against Real Madrid.

That unforgettable duel from a decade ago shook the complexes of Atlético, which from then on would combine victories to remember at the Bernabéu -the tie with a double from the recently returned

in the round of 16 cupbearers in 2015 was like one of them-, with blows impossible to forget like the Champions League final.

Now, with a victory in the last eight derbies (last season in the League at the Metropolitan), those frustrations are similar.

Without

, one of the fittest guys in the Cholo squad, Atlético now goes to an unprecedented clash: there has never been a derby in a single-game tie.

And in search of a night with a double edge.

A victory at a Bernabéu without visiting fans -Madrid has barely given up 334 tickets-, would be a relief and an incentive.

A defeat, another shovelful of disappointment.

Ancelotti

, for his part, will not have

, despite the fact that they returned to the dynamics of the group yesterday.

Alaba will be the novelty in a Madrid spurred on after his comeback at Villarreal and the victory at San Mamés.

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