Luis Núñez-Villavearán
Updated Thursday, February 8, 2024-00:32
Chronicle Athletic hits first in the Metropolitano
Copa del Rey Table and results
San Millán The magician from Pogacar who makes Athletic fly
It wasn't the story of Sleeping Beauty, the one in which Princess
Aurora
's kingdom slept for 100 years, but the streak was on its way to being very long. January 8, 2023 was the last time that
Atlético de Madrid
lost at the Metropolitano. It was
Xavi
's Barcelona
that worked the miracle with a 0-1
lead
. A result that caused a small dispute between both technicians.
Since then, the red and white stadium had become one of the main fortresses in Europe. We are talking about 28 games in a row without losing. Having passed great bulls like
Real Madrid
on three occasions and others like
Real Sociedad or
Athletic Club
itself
, the team that yesterday broke that resistance after its 0-1 victory with a goal from
Berenguer
. Never has a short circuit like the one
Reinildo
had in the penalty shootout meant so much punishment for one team and so much reward for the other. "They played a very good game, but we made a mistake and mistakes are paid for," said
Diego Simeone
in the press conference after the first leg of the semi-final against
Athletic Club
.
There were 26 victories (21 in the League, 3 in the Champions League and 2 in the Cup) and 2 draws.
Feyenoord
,
Celtic
and
Lazio
passed in European competition
and all three left with a defeat of 3-2, 6-0 and 2-0 respectively. A steamroller both in Spain and abroad.
"Very open eliminatory"
It had to be in the Copa del Rey, a tournament in which Atlético de Madrid had beaten
Lugo
,
Real Madrid
and
Sevilla
the tournament in which the colchoneros lost the streak. A tournament that
Simeone
's team has not done very well
except for the Argentine coach's first full season, which won the title at the
Bernabéu
against Madrid itself.
The curious thing is that it was
Athletic
, neither more nor less, the team that inflicted this defeat on the colchoneros. A club that managed to beat them this year in San Mamés (2-0), but that in the Copa del Rey had been unable to beat the rojiblancos in the last 46 years. However,
Ernesto Valverde
, Athletic's coach, maintains that "the tie is very open."
Game of return
Simeone
, for his part, explained that passing is complicated "because you have to score two goals there" and "it won't be easy." The Argentine appreciated the play of his team, especially in the second half, in which he believes they made many chances, but the final score is what counts. "I always value the result because it is what the fan is interested in," he commented after the game.
The red and whites were able to equalize the clash in the last breath as they did last Sunday at the Bernabéu, but this time the coin came out tails. "It's a historic streak and it annoys you to lose, especially today's game, but it's football. It can happen, we can't win all the games forever," said Koke, the Colchonero captain after the clash. 13 months later, the
Metropolitan was conquered by
Valverde
's army
.