The 7 most epic comebacks of Atlético de Madrid in Europe

Atlético faces a major challenge. The Wanda Metropolitano will roar for the team to turn around the 1-0 with which they returned home from Manchester City. The rojiblancos can live one of their biggest nights in Europe if they go back to Guardiola’s, the great favorite for the title that comes with an advantage. But Atleti have already lived great joys before. Of course, the new mattress house is also looking for its first magical night of Champions.

Anfield: an extension for history

This was an express comeback, during extra time, because Atlético actually won both games. Simeone’s men crossed paths in the 2020 round of 16 with Liverpool, then current champion and a steamroller in the Premier and the Champions League. At the Wanda Metropolitano, Atleti won 1-0, with a goal from Saul. And the lap was a siege by Klopp’s men from the initial whistle. The match went into overtime and Firmino made it 2-0 at 94′. One goal was enough for Atleti to pass… and they scored three. Llorente, with two shots from the front, and Morata They signed a historic victory.

The black beast of Barça

In 2014 and 2016 an Atleti-Barça team fell in the Champions League quarter-finals with the second leg at the Calderón. In the first game, the rojiblancos got a 1-1 from the Camp Nou and Boil later decided in Madrid. But in 2016 there was a comeback. Torres He put Atleti ahead in Barcelona and then saw two yellow cards that left the team with ten after half an hour. The team resisted until 2-1, with a brace from Luis Suárez. On the way back the Calderón trembled again and Griezmann, with a header in the first half to Saúl’s center and a penalty in the second, put the rubric on the comeback over Barça by Luis Enrique, Messi, Neymar, Suárez, Iniesta…

To the final with an exhibition in London

Like the one at Anfield in 2020, this one from 2014 was a comeback on the fly. The first leg at the Calderón ended 0-0 and in the second leg, the first goal was scored by Fernando Torres… for Mourinho’s Chelsea. But Atleti had a giant reaction at Stamford Bridge. Adrián he equalized before the break and the second half was one of the great masterpieces of the Simeone era. Diego Costapenalty, and Arda they closed the 1-3 with which the team got involved 40 years later in a European Cup final.

Brilliant return to the Champions

Atlético returned to the continental elite in 2008, twelve years after his previous adventure in Champions. Vasco Aguirre’s team had to overcome a preview against Schalke. In Germany, Pander fouled the 1-0 and Antonio López ended up expelled. In the return, in a Calderón to the flag despite being August, Atlético was a roller. Agüero, Forlán, Luis García and Maxi, from a penalty, destroyed the tough German block to get back into the pots of the group stage.

Louis’s big night

In 1970, Atleti played in the round of 16 with el Cagliari. The first leg was a rough game, with a very homemade arbitration and several brawls. The Italian champion went 2-0 up, but in the 77th minute Gárate invented a slalom to serve Luis 2-1. In the second leg, Manzanares prepared for its first great European night. The Italians locked themselves in to protect their lead, but Marcel Domingo’s Atleti besieged them. At 33′, a play by Calleja ends in 1-0 for Luis. In 71′, orAnother great action by Ufarte ends in a penalty. Louis does not forgive. And in 89′ it is Gárate who gives Aragonés the third of the match, his fourth goal in the tie. The magical night ended in field invasion and Atleti, in quarters.

Big day at the Bernabéu

in 1963 Atlético still played in the Metropolitano, which was already obsolete. The construction of the new Manzanares field was in process and President Barroso asked Madrid to play at the Bernabéu the second leg of the Recopa semi-finals. The first leg had been a 1-0 against Nuremberg and the chronicles assure that for the second match there was 100,000 people in the stands of the white fiefdom, not all athletic, but also Madridistas. Chuzo he scored just before the break and, in the second half, he assisted for the 2-0 Mendonça. Atleti, to their second consecutive final.

A comeback with a bitter end

The first time Real Madrid and Atlético met in the European Cup was in the 1959 semi-finals. At the Bernabéu, Rial and Puskas turned around Chuzo’s 0-1. On the way back, in the ancient Metropolitan, Daucik’s Atleti had to win and Collar, just before the break, made it 1-0 which equalized the tie. Then, before a tied score, it went to the tiebreaker. seven days later, in Zaragoza, the ticket to the final was decided. Madrid won the third duel 2-1.

And an eighth: the Intercontinental

“And when kissing the net a goal from Ayala…”. One of Atlético’s historic comebacks was in the Intercontinental Cup. Atlético played it as European runner-up after the resignation of Bayern, who stepped aside in the face of the harshness of the South American teams. The rojiblancos, trained by Luis Aragonés, —who went from player to coach overnight— accepted the invitation. The going was rough, what was expected, and it ended 1-0 for Independent. The Calderón was full and Atleti flew for the comeback. in the 22′ Irureta scored the 1-0 header, assisted by Garate. When the extension was already sensed, in the 85th minute, Ayala scored the 2-0 with his toe. Adelardo, in his 500th match, lifted the world champions cup.