When the draw for the knockout stages of this Champions League paired Atlético with Chelsea there was a general sensation: the clearest path to the quarters was that of the rojiblancos. Chelsea, then, was bad, Lampard was still coaching him, he had the 'expert in candy' sign hanging. An Atlético who, at that time, was playing an impeccable first round, which would end with 50 points. But, when February arrived and the first confrontation between the blues and the rojiblancos, everything had changed..
Chelsea dominated and destroyed the rojiblancos in the tie. A Chelsea already with Tuchel, had twelve games, and with an omnipresent Kanté. Criticism rained down on Cholo's black suit. How the 'expert' had won the rojiblancos. How was it possible. They got worse a month later, when that Chelsea already of Tuchel and Kanté eliminated Atleti. Three months later that Chelsea lifts the title of champion of this Champions, after crushing each team with which, after crushing Atlético, they measured themselves. The Madrid. The Porto. And now the City of Guardiola.
Three months after the game in Bucharest, the only certainty hanging from the blue jersey is that they have been the best team in the competition in recent months, since the change on the bench swept Lampard and brought in Tuchel. Only the champion could with the rojiblancos. The criticism that rained down on Cholo's black suit was once the confetti that fell on Chelsea, in Porto. Chelsea, the only stone on the road this season that expelled that Atleti against whom, by the way, lived its most uncomfortable moments on its way to the title. And it is that Atleti, three months later, also confirmed what he already pointed out in December, that he would be LaLiga champion, for the second time in his particular history with Cholo.