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Atletico restores belief but Juve remains hopeful
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Cristiano Ronaldo taunted the fans with five twiddling fingers, one for each of his UEFA Champions League medals, but Atletico Madrid left believing it was closer to the next one.
Ronaldo had jiggled his right hand during the match, baiting the home crowd, and then again a couple of hours later, to journalists, as he departed the stadium. “Five for me,” he said. “Zero for Atletico.”
But it was a mark of his opponent’s performance over 94 pulsating minutes at the Wanda Metropolitano that Ronaldo had felt moved to make the point at all, let alone twice.
The tournament’s greatest ever player had an early free-kick saved and sent a late header over the bar, but in between he was snuffed out by Atletico’s unrelenting backline.
Many had predicted that defenders would prevail in a contest of caution. They did, just not in the way expected, as center backs Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin scored two late goals in five blistering minutes for a 2-0 win and sight of the quarterfinals.
“These are my boys,” Diego Simeone said. “There are lots of ways you can win but it’s the best thing that can happen to a sportsman — being in a group that knows how to compete and fight like brothers.”
Juventus was supposed to be the worst possible draw for an Atletico side struggling for form and losing belief in the dream of a UCL final at its own stadium on June 1.
Atletico cannot celebrate too much. Diego Costa and Thomas Partey will be suspended for the return leg while Massimiliano Allegri pointed out to Juve overturning a three-goal deficit against Real Madrid last season, at the Santiago Bernabeu, although it conceded one more to Ronaldo in injury-time.
Juve had also shipped two away goals to Tottenham Hotspur in the round before, only to win at Wembley and progress. “I remain confident,” said Allegri. “We must have faith.”
But Atletico delivered a timely reminder of why it has reached two UCL finals in the last five years and how, this season, it wants success more than ever.
This was its best performance of the season, perhaps even in the 17-month history of its new home. “Beasts!” read the headline in Marca yesterday.
“This was Atletico in their purest form,” wrote El Pais. “They dominated Juventus.
Who can stop them now?” demanded AS.
The intensity, rigor and military precision in defense were all familiar ingredients but more surprising was the sense of purpose in attack.
There was the energy of Costa on his first start in almost 12 weeks, and the confidence of Alvaro Morata, off the bench, who had one goal ruled out before setting up the opener, his downward header eventually falling to Gimenez’s right foot.
Simeone was bold, too. He celebrated Gimenez’s finish by clutching his crotch. “I showed balls,” he said.
Simeone had begun with a tried and tested line-up but rolled the dice in the second half by bringing on three forwards — Morata, Thomas Lemar and Angel Correa — between the 58th and 67th minutes.
Allegri tried to preserve the stalemate while Simeone went for the win. Now Atletico must finish the job.
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