Atleti never stopped believing

In December Diego Costa left; Trippier was sanctioned by the English Federation; there was a plague of soccer players infected by COVID and also many injured. But nothing could with an Atlético that started in an overwhelming plan, that suffered a bump, but that came back again in the final stretch. An Atlético who did not betray match by match and who ignored all external comments that tried to weaken him. El Cholo increases his legend (together with Luis Aragonés and Marcel Domingo he has the league title as a player and as a coach). He has already won eight rojiblanco trophies and his ambition has no end.

Simeone renewed a squad whose star signing was Luis Suárez, whom Barcelona gave as a finish for high-level football. But the great revelation of the season was Marcos Llorente, whose game in March last year at Anfield enveloped him in a magic that he still has. Along with them, Carrasco also had a great performance. There were three main actors of an Atlético with luxury secondary, as Correa got the general recognition for his effort, despite failing sung goals. The team moved to the rhythm of Koke, the great captain, who has already exceeded 500 rojiblanco games. Only Adelardo played more. It will reach you for sure. And behind stood out Savic, the new head of the defense. Oblak did not need to perform miracles, as in other campaigns, but he responded when his team needed him. Gimenez, Felipe. Hermoso, Lemar, Saúl, Kodogbia, João Félix … They all tried to contribute their own, although it is true that in an uneven way.

Atlético is champion. Lost four games (Real Madrid, Levante, Sevilla and Athletic) and it gave a lot of emotion to a tournament that seemed to have won. But he would not have conquered it the way the Madrid team usually does: suffering a lot, wasting courage and heart, as his hymn says. Congratulations Atlético, just league champion.

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Atlético started the season with few new faces, a gold reinforcement up front with Barcelona's included bow to Luis Suárez and a semi-unknown Grbic to watch out for any Oblak colds. But, after making clear the new Atlético that Simeone was preparing, with a 6-1 win against Granada in an offensive festival, a double for the Uruguayan in his debut included, came two consecutive draws and Thomas' goodbye during the last market day in a team that was beginning to have doubts. They ended up signing Torreira and Kondogbia to reinforce the pivot, but it was Captain Koke who led operations in a more focused position and delayed than she used to with Cholo. Treading less area, but distributing football and organizing a fully offensive team. Beautiful gave meaning to the line of three centrals as the defender in charge of taking risks to get the ball played and Savic was erected as an insurmountable wall, allowing Trippier to break free in attack. With Lemar on the inside, Carrasco hitting on the left and Llorente being an all-field player extraordinary, the downturn of João Félix after his spectacular start Correa covered him, from less to more and always leaving the skin in the field. The idea was clear, supply balls to Suárez in the area. A champion team based on maintaining defensive reliability with the giant Oblak at the finish and to be much more cheerful in the pressure and in their arrivals to the rival area.

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The end of the season has put the hearts of the Atlético fans to the test, but you also have to be fair to the team. Since taking over the leadership in December, he has taken a historic advantage and, although he was on the verge of losing it, never gave up his position of privilege. Just as many boosted him as champion before his time, many others (in reality, most were the same) gave him up for dead when the rhythm of the rojiblancos began to weaken. The dressing room was limited to match by match, to respect each day and it worked for him.

Atlético's first half League was spectacular, at the level of the best ever, 50 points out of 57, with a streak of seven wins and another of eight. Moreover, if the team did not take the lead earlier, it was because it started competing on matchday 3. That tagline of “With two games less” He accompanied Atleti for months and until March he did not equalize with the rest of the teams, because in addition to those two pending matches, Athletic's visit to the Metropolitan was added, postponed by the storm Filomena.

With everything, the rojiblanco team reached the equator of his League with ten points of advantage on Madrid and Barça, who had played one more game. The draw that Celta scratched in extremis and the double stumble with Levante in four days (one point out of six) generated the first doubts. The scoring rhythm of Suarez under the coronavirus he slipped back into the locker room, his physique faltered and the rivals accelerated, especially Barça. But Atleti resisted. Against the teams of Zidane and Koeman he gave very good versions in the second round and only marksmanship prevented him from beating them. Even so, the accounts kept coming out. Until mathematics, finally, has confirmed the title.

One of the great penalties of Atlético is not having been able to enjoy all this journey with the fans. The League of the pandemic, behind closed doors, has prevented the swollen mattress suffer with their own, give them encouragement when the legs trembled and vibrate the Metropolitan. They miss each other those images of Cholo lifting people as if he were a conductor and he fantasizes about what would have been the communion between Suárez and the stands. And, above all, the team has missed celebrating the Eleventh on the pitch surrounded by their own. But that, luckily, will also soon return …

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Atlético lived a 2019-20 season defined by Simeone as the year of transition. Pass from his praetorian guard (the Godín, Juanfran, Filipe, Griezmann …) to a new generation of footballers who needed a period of adaptation to cholismo. And also the booklet of the Argentine coach needed to evolve according to the characteristics of his new references in the squad. With hardly any brushstrokes in summer, beyond getting done with a first-class nine on Suarez's boots, Simeone revolutionized his schemes, changed the game systems and showed that it is always a good time to reinvent yourself.

After nine seasons directing Atlético and always fulfilling the objectives of the club, Simeone was brave, he left the patterns in a team that had been losing its shine in recent years and a champion locker room was pulled out of its sleeve by betting on a game with higher priority to possession, high pressure and building the plays from behind. The idea, supplying balls to Suárez in the area. To do this, he placed a defense with three centrals, giving a leading role in the exit of the ball to a Beautiful that in summer he had one foot out, empowering Trippier and convincing Carrasco that, with work, he is a huge footballer (what a great return of yours). With Oblak under sticks and Savic leading the rear To also maintain defensive strength, Atlético has taken the leap in attack.

If Koke's position had been one of the most controversial in recent seasons, with the doubt about whether he should play more focused or continue on the wing, the captain has accepted the challenge of his technician: to lead the entire course in the engine room from the pivot. A darker job, which has taken him away from the spectacular numbers in assists and goals of past seasons, But they have made him even more essential in the team, in full football maturity as the leader to start football, direct the pressure and sacrifice his arrival in the area so that four other players could look at the rival area with a bodyguard always at hand.. He is the only footballer who has been in the squad since the coach's first day and is now his shadow on the field. During a part of the beginning of the course with Herrera for support, the physical problems of the Mexican were solved with Lemar's quality leap, which has finally felt the athletic DNA and got Simeone to give him gallons down the middle. The Frenchman caught the ball in the midpoint while João Félix evaporated and Correa once again showed that he is always there when his coach needs him. And the Cholo gave the lace finding the position for an unparalleled explosion of Llorente, perhaps the player who has improved the most in LaLiga and in Europe in the last year and a half.

This season Simeone has continued to smash records. With his second league, he already has eight rojiblanco titles, the most successful coach in the club's history (two Leagues, two Europa League, the King's Cup, two European Super Cups and the Spanish Super Cup) and also the coach with the most wins (314 in 526 games), surpassing all a benchmark like Luis Aragonés (308 in 612). El Sabio de Hortaleza is the only one who has directed more games than Cholo, light years from the third (Ricardo Zamora with 206). But, perhaps the most important thing has been the demonstration that you always have to keep innovating, learning from mistakes and trying to improve, avoiding laying back on what had worked in the past with other footballers. Simeone has known how to adapt to the qualities of his footballers, has enhanced them and has once again managed to end the duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the only one to do so, and on two occasions, since 2004.

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Atlético signed Luis Suárez in search of a quality jump and reality soon exceeded expectations. The Uruguayan debuted with a double that triggered the illusion – already abundant since his arrival – and ended up being decisive for the eleventh mattress league, with a spectacular streak between December and January that marked him as one of the stars of the competition. Suárez landed at the Metropolitano after being banished by Barça, who took him away from his friend Messi and sharpened his fang. After flirting with Juventus, Atlético finally got him, which in turn sent Morata to Turin.

The Uruguayan, meanwhile, changed city, but not country or league. And yes, he presented himself wanting revenge, especially against those who thought he was no longer valid for these challenges. The rojiblanca fans welcomed him with open arms, he fantasized about his society with Simeone and only regretted not being able to cheer him up from the stands. Suárez is one of those footballers who connects with a crowd and, more specifically, It was a 'very Atleti' profile, or even 'very Simeone'. The Argentine had for the attack to Lucho, Diego Costa, João Félix … But everyone soon understood that he was the ram and his figures only reaffirmed it. He was also feared for the state of his knees and physically, Although he is not for great sprints or to advance 50 meters with the ball, he has been at the required level. Only the coronavirus, in November, and a muscle injury in April stopped him.

Suárez has only been substitute in his debut against Granada (double in 20 minutes) and in Bilbao, emerging from a muscle injury. He has been the champion's battering ram, despite the fact that in his last one he has been drier, a version that contrasts with the one that after Christmas shot Atleti in the standings. After the stumble in Valdebebas (December 12), the team scored eight victories in which Suárez scored nine goals, almost all decisive: Getafe 1-0, Alavés 1-2 in 94 ', double in Eibar to come back, double in Cádiz … In addition,' 9 'exhibited a tremendous variety of resources for the goal: from a penalty, from a foul, at the far post, at the first, throwing himself on the plate, with the outside, with the inside … Pure goalkeeper.

In addition, Luis quickly became a weighty footballer in the locker room. One of the leaders of the house despite being a rookie in the squad. He has known how to be grateful to his teammates, whom he has also pressed when he has played. Always being demanding of himself. “Suárez wins games that were tied before”, is a phrase that was heard in the corridors as soon as the Uruguayan took flight. Pure ambition, each goal was a triumph for himself and a small revenge for those who told him he was not worth it. And of course, at Atlético they celebrate it. The bargain of the summer has ended up being the champion's scorer.

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Marcos Llorente. His is a surname that will be sewn forever to Atlético de Madrid's eleventh League title. Cholo's second, his first. Llorente, son of, grandson of, and proper name for the story already. The one with Marcos. The footballer who came from the rival team to become a giant in the Metropolitan. It was not easy. Nothing. Just look at the summer of 2019, when he arrived at the rojiblanco team with a star signing band … and crashed as soon as the preseason started. Rodrigo had just left for City, after the call of Pep (Guardiola), after a single season under the command of Cholo. The rojiblanco midfield was left with a hole and Llorente seemed the ideal man. His year when he was on loan to Vitoria, he was one of the LaLiga players, but when Zidane returned to Madrid, what was expected did not happen; he never made the team, he never became essential. When Atlético's offer arrived, he ordered his representatives not to listen to anything else. He would pack his suitcase but he would not leave Madrid. At first, the writing, nothing happened as expected.

Because yes, Llorente from the beginning of the preseason in San Rafael was one of the players who were always in Simeone's starting eleven (Correa, for example, not at that time). But the second preseason game came, the first of the tour, against Chivas, and a red as soon as he started, condemned him. Not only with Cholo, who stopped including his name in the starting lineups, but in his own head. That game sowed doubts, they germinated with the Atleti line-ups later, game by game. Because that card tore the band from Llorente before starting. Now that statistic from December 2019 almost sounds like a joke: Llorente was the second outfield player with fewer minutes at Atlético. He had played 310 '. Only one man behind on that list, Saponjic. El dato desató rumores aquel mercado invernal pero la realidad era otra: Marcos le había dicho a sus agentes que no escucharan nada, que él no ve movía del Atlético. Él iba a triunfar. Era marzo el mes en el que espantó a todos los fantasmas de su cabeza en Anfield. ‘You'll never walk alone’ gritaba el campo y él lo sintió en las piernas, como si afición inglesa se lo cantara a ellas. Salió cuando el Liverpool le había remontado al Atlético aquellos octavos de final y tumbó al equipo de Klopp con un doblete. Bye, bye fantasmas. Un nuevo Marcos Llorente emergió. Y nunca más se ha ido.

De la catarsis emergió un Llorente aún mejor que todos los Llorentes vistos hasta ahora. Simeone puede anotarse el tanto en su libreta. El entrenador que sacó a Griezmann de la izquierda para convertirle en delantero y campeón del mundo (con Francia, 2018), que hizo mejores a Arda Turan, a Thomas Partey, movía unos pasos adelante a Llorente para aprovechar su zancada, su velocidad y privilegiado físico. Voilà. Si Anfield fue una explosión que nadie esperaba, la temporada 2020-21 ha sido su confirmación. Tercer jugador de campo más utilizado por el técnico argentino (3.369’), sólo por detrás de Savic y Koke, ha logrado sus mejores números de siempre. 13 goles, 12 asistencias, el contener el aliento cada vez que coge un balón. Aunque visto con perspectiva en realidad no era tan difícil intuirlo. Lleva el ‘14’ a la espalda. Número de grandes en el Atleti. La última vez que el equipo había ido a Neptuno, de hecho, su dueño fue el que se subió a Neptuno a ponerle la bufanda.

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El campeón tiene al mejor portero de LaLiga. Y posiblemente de Europa. El Atlético presume de Oblak, quien ha conseguido su primer título liguero con el equipo rojiblanco. Tras siete temporadas en el Atlético, club al que llegó con la complicada papeleta de sustituir a Courtois, Oblak ya tiene una Liga. Y lucha por conseguir su quinto trofeo Zamora, algo que únicamente tienen dos cancerberos históricos, Ramallets y Valdés. La temporada ha sido histórica para Oblak, quien ha acabado el campeonato igualando a Abel Resino como el cancerbero con más partidos en la historia del Atlético: 303 encuentros. Un ejercicio, pues, que el esloveno no podrá olvidar facilmente, tanto a nivel colectivo como individual.

Oblak fue de menos a más durante el campeonato. Durante la primera vuelta sus intervenciones no fueron decisivas. El Atlético fue superior en muchos partidos y los rivales apenas le pusieron a prueba. Otra cosa distinta fue en la segunda mitad del torneo, donde sí recordó al de pasadas campañas. Fue determinante en varios partidos y sacó a relucir una faceta de la que fue criticado. Oblak paró penaltis que a la postre resultaron clave. Primero a Joselu, el jugador del Alavés. También le detuvo uno a Ocampos, aunque no sirvió para puntuar. Y frente al Elche Fidel lanzó al poste. En LaLiga, Real Madrid, Cádiz, Celta, Levante y Athletic le hicieron dos tantos. Ningún equipo del campeonato pudo hacerle más.

Con 28 años, y con contrato en vigor hasta junio de 2023, su valor de mercado es de 90 millones de euros. Es el jugador de LaLiga cuyo mercado de valor es más alto. Los grandes del fútbol europeo le pretenden, aunque el Atlético se remite a su cláusula de rescisión: 120 millones. Oblak es uno de los capitanes del conjunto madrileño y ya es habitual verle con el brazalete, de lo que ha declarado sentirse muy orgulloso. Además de sus reflejos y su agilidad, le ha aportado su particular manera de afrontar los enuentros: una sangre fría que le da puntos al Atlético. El campeón tiene al mejor portero.

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Más allá de los goles de Suárez, los guantes de Oblak, el Koke omnipresente y la zancada de Llorente, este Atlético campeón se ha alzado también sobre ladrillos inesperados pero bien fuertes aferrados a sus cimientos, “como los fragmentos de un imán a los que su propia naturaleza ingobernable reúne”, que escribe Leonardo Padura en Como polvo en el viento. Ladrillos llamados Hermoso, Carrasco y Lemar. Sobre todo resulta llamativo el último. Porque habían pasado tres años desde que el francés llegara al Atlético de la mano de Griezmann y un peso insoportable en los hombros: el de fichaje más caro de la historia del club en el verano de 2018 (hasta que un año después João Félix lo desbancara con los 120 millones pagados al Benfica por él). No le salieron las cosas aquella temporada. Fue Lemar un efímero cometa sobre la hierba de Tallin, en la Supercopa de Europa ante el Madrid, de su desborde y conducción de balón después de aquella noche no quedó nada, sólo un rastro imposible de perseguir, en el que él mismo se perdió.

No lo hizo la confianza de Simeone, sin embargo, que durante tres años le ponía una y otra vez de titular. Una y otra vez sin que nadie lo entendiera muy bien. Eran pocos los partidos en los que Lemar no escribía su esquela en el Atleti. Perdido, sobrepasado, superado, a miles de kilómetros con el futbolista que era cada mañana en el Cerro del Espino, el mejor en los entrenamientos mañana a mañana. De ahí la confianza del Cholo. Se le buscó equipo, se puso su nombre en el mercado, pero estaba tan devaluado que no le quedó otra que continuar el pasado verano, cuando su nombre había convertido en meme. Fue entonces cuando se sacudió todos los golpes en el cuerpo y emergió aquel Lemar, escurridizo y decisivo, del Mónaco. En enero, allá donde ponía epitafio ahora ponía resurrección. Quizá fue la ausencia de público en los estadios, y de los pitos cada vez que erraba un balón. Quizá el cambio del Cholo en su esquema, jugando más por dentro y encontrándole su sitio. La única certeza es que, desde que comenzó la temporada, este Lemar ya era otro. Imprescindible. Cambiando el meme por la resilistencia. Y los elogios.

Como Hermoso. Si su primera temporada en el Atlético, la 2019-20, fueron más sinsabores y banquillo que oportunidades, el cambio en el sistema del Cholo, con tres centrales, le dio minutos y pelota. Y pocos tienen su salida de balón en el equipo del Cholo. Sexto futbolista de campo más utilizado por Simeone, ha arrinconado a un fichaje como el que fue Lodi (14º hombre de campo del Cholo en la 2020-21), la temporada pasada siempre por delante de él.

Y hay un tercer nombre en esos cimientos fundamental. El del hombre que regresó de China para terminar de confirmar todo aquello que había deslizado en una primera etapa en el Atlético en la que no terminó de encajar, ya no sobre el césped sino con el grupo. Es de Yannick Carrasco, el fichaje sorpresa del Atlético que en enero de 2020 estuvo a punto de firmar a Cavani para que le diera los goles que a un Costa lesionado y un Morata siempre en fuera de juego le faltaban. Su zancada y velocidad se agigantaron con el hambre, que el fútbol de Europa se ve muy lejos cuando tienes 25 años en China, por mucho que la cartera abulte. Regresó con Simeone y la mili ya hecha para convertirse en aquel futbolista que ya apuntaba cuando se le fichó del Mónaco en 2016 y se pasaba los entrenamientos de los sábados marcando goles, en los entrenamientos en espacios reducidos, para ganar la apuesta que mantenía con Lucas, Griezmann y Filipe Luis. Hoy el Atlético ya no se entiende sin él. Como sin Hermoso. Y el nuevo Lemar. Este Atleti campeón.

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La temporada del Atlético no ha sido un camino de rosas en todo momento. La Liga, como el resto de las competiciones, ha tenido que convivir con la pandemia, que ha afectado a todos los niveles al fútbol y, también de forma más particular, al equipo rojiblanco. Por ejemplo, se ha proclamado campeón sin que su afición haya podido pisar el Wanda Metropolitano para llevarlo en volandas. En lo sanitario, el coronavirus ha castigado severamente a la plantilla, de la que pocos se han librado. Y otros temas que han agitado el transcurso de un curso que, si bien pronto cogió muy buena pinta, ha sido intenso.

La COVID empezó a atacar al Atlético ya desde la pretemporada. Antes de empezar, dieron positivo Arias y Diego Costa. En Los Ángeles de San Rafael, hubo que acabar con la concentración antes de tiempo por un positivo en el staff técnico, y también se contagió Simeone. En octubre le tocó a Giménez y en noviembre, con la selección, cayeron Torreira y Suárez. Al mes siguiente, Grbic. Ya en 2021, un nuevo brote hizo temblar los cimientos del Atlético, por entonces líder destacadísimo de Primera: dieron positivo Carrasco, João Félix, Hermoso, Dembélé, Héctor Herrera y Lemar en menos de diez días.

A algunos, por fortuna, no les afectó prácticamente y otros tardaron más en recuperar la forma al volver. De todos, el caso que más preocupó fue el de Diego Costa. En noviembre tuvo que dar un paso a un lado por una trombosis venosa profunda, posible secuela del coronavirus que sufrió en verano. Por suerte, unas semanas después pudo retornar al equipo, aunque luego le pidió al club que le dejara salir. En su lugar llegó Dembélé, cedido desde el Lyon. El francés tampoco ha tenido suerte. No sólo por el coronavirus, sino que en marzo, durante un entrenamiento en el Cerro, sufrió un desvanecimiento que también generó mucha preocupación en el club.

Más allá de la salud, lo más importante, el día a día del Atlético ha sufrido otros reveses. Para inesperado y difícil de explicar, el caso Trippier. En diciembre saltó la noticia: la Federación Inglesa sancionaba al lateral por una apuesta ejecutada por un familiar. Al rojiblanco se le acusaba de haberle pasado información privilegiada sobre su fichaje por el Atleti. Tras recursos, idas, vueltas, el castigo de 10 semanas le dejó fuera de 12 encuentros. Para Simeone era un imprescindible y una de las claves de su sistema con dos carrileros. El equipo le echó de menos, pero de esto también se repuso. Como de todo lo demás. Un año accidentado, con momentos que invitaban a dudar, pero del que el Atlético sale reforzado y campeón.