Zürcher Nachrichten - Struggling Atletico look to reignite the fire against Man United

EUR -
AED 4.174366
AFN 81.263391
ALL 98.992593
AMD 443.605618
ANG 2.04828
AOA 1042.731791
ARS 1327.399657
AUD 1.775766
AWG 2.045677
AZN 1.936541
BAM 1.957242
BBD 2.294621
BDT 138.077825
BGN 1.955089
BHD 0.428323
BIF 3332.181304
BMD 1.136487
BND 1.493728
BOB 7.85289
BRL 6.464005
BSD 1.136452
BTN 97.010768
BWP 15.66475
BYN 3.71886
BYR 22275.154691
BZD 2.282812
CAD 1.577275
CDF 3269.674903
CHF 0.940675
CLF 0.027689
CLP 1062.559423
CNY 8.282385
CNH 8.28367
COP 4799.329822
CRC 575.231484
CUC 1.136487
CUP 30.116918
CVE 110.584658
CZK 24.977386
DJF 201.977003
DKK 7.465932
DOP 67.110032
DZD 150.630497
EGP 57.867447
ERN 17.047312
ETB 148.997912
FJD 2.566701
FKP 0.854259
GBP 0.853603
GEL 3.11442
GGP 0.854259
GHS 17.400067
GIP 0.854259
GMD 81.827503
GNF 9836.29958
GTQ 8.752565
GYD 237.760437
HKD 8.816132
HNL 29.325739
HRK 7.53628
HTG 148.395882
HUF 405.681013
IDR 19097.649334
ILS 4.118665
IMP 0.854259
INR 97.039382
IQD 1488.798604
IRR 47846.123487
ISK 145.334458
JEP 0.854259
JMD 179.852534
JOD 0.805888
JPY 163.284884
KES 147.179449
KGS 99.386267
KHR 4564.134135
KMF 491.535149
KPW 1022.802499
KRW 1634.678573
KWD 0.348618
KYD 0.94701
KZT 585.178945
LAK 24576.542243
LBP 101685.195801
LKR 340.524455
LRD 227.290492
LSL 21.223948
LTL 3.355753
LVL 0.68745
LYD 6.210949
MAD 10.518236
MDL 19.614713
MGA 5128.404041
MKD 61.557092
MMK 2386.049405
MNT 4031.910014
MOP 9.079811
MRU 44.982605
MUR 51.517408
MVR 17.513702
MWK 1970.595492
MXN 22.169693
MYR 4.97104
MZN 72.73559
NAD 21.230015
NGN 1828.699709
NIO 41.82137
NOK 11.862888
NPR 155.214696
NZD 1.905899
OMR 0.437538
PAB 1.136452
PEN 4.170345
PGK 4.606228
PHP 63.921782
PKR 319.296584
PLN 4.271432
PYG 9090.338785
QAR 4.137995
RON 4.979297
RSD 103.32159
RUB 93.824616
RWF 1609.266278
SAR 4.263349
SBD 9.494571
SCR 16.156575
SDG 682.464912
SEK 11.005863
SGD 1.493122
SHP 0.893101
SLE 25.802433
SLL 23831.555846
SOS 649.506759
SRD 41.914838
STD 23522.996365
SVC 9.942933
SYP 14776.390786
SZL 21.230006
THB 38.129575
TJS 12.023625
TMT 3.989071
TND 3.40496
TOP 2.661772
TRY 43.665899
TTD 7.719791
TWD 36.993847
TZS 3057.151713
UAH 47.526659
UGX 4165.904928
USD 1.136487
UYU 47.4435
UZS 14717.513301
VES 94.682955
VND 29573.109071
VUV 137.963623
WST 3.161504
XAF 656.455186
XAG 0.034347
XAU 0.000343
XCD 3.071415
XDR 0.817085
XOF 654.052633
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.557163
ZAR 21.239281
ZMK 10229.755219
ZMW 31.734804
ZWL 365.948506
  • RBGPF

    -0.2600

    63.19

    -0.41%

  • CMSD

    0.0100

    22.46

    +0.04%

  • BCC

    -0.5800

    95.51

    -0.61%

  • JRI

    0.1400

    12.74

    +1.1%

  • SCS

    -0.0600

    9.89

    -0.61%

  • RIO

    -1.1300

    60.56

    -1.87%

  • NGG

    -0.2200

    72.04

    -0.31%

  • CMSC

    0.0000

    22.33

    -0%

  • RYCEF

    0.3100

    10.15

    +3.05%

  • BCE

    -0.3600

    21.65

    -1.66%

  • VOD

    0.0400

    9.35

    +0.43%

  • GSK

    -0.0700

    37.43

    -0.19%

  • RELX

    0.3800

    53.55

    +0.71%

  • AZN

    0.0200

    69.57

    +0.03%

  • BTI

    -0.4000

    42.05

    -0.95%

  • BP

    0.1900

    29.19

    +0.65%

Struggling Atletico look to reignite the fire against Man United
Struggling Atletico look to reignite the fire against Man United

Struggling Atletico look to reignite the fire against Man United

If winning La Liga caused Atletico Madrid to soften their edge or lose their identity, a Champions League tie against Manchester United could be a chance for them to get it back.

Text size:

From the highs of winning their second league title in 25 years, have come the lows of humiliating defeats, unprecedented fragility in defence and introspection over style and application that has left even Diego Simeone's future in doubt.

And yet amid all the soul-searching and despair, there have been pockets of resistance, a handful of rare but uplifting performances dotted across a miserable season, each of them sparking hope that a corner was about to be turned.

After losing away at Alaves, Atletico rallied against AC Milan at the San Siro, coming from a goal down to win 2-1, Luis Suarez scoring a penalty in the 96th minute.

After losing at home to Mallorca, they prevailed in an all or nothing match against Porto in Lisbon, a fiery 3-1 win dragging them into the Champions League last 16.

In the last month alone, as the knives have sharpened and pressure mounted, Atletico have come from two goals down to beat Valencia and 3-2 behind to beat Getafe, on both occasions by finding a winner in the last minute.

Every time, momentum has been fleeting. After every comeback, they lost at least one of their next two games. Whenever Atletico have looked close to rediscovering themselves, they have just as quickly drifted again off course.

Before Simeone arrived in 2011 and lifted them into Europe's elite, there was an advert in Spain that became synonymous with the Atletico Madrid.

"Papa, why do we support Atleti?" a young boy asks from the back of the car, while in the front, his father tries to find the words. The silence lingers before an answer cuts across the screen beneath the Atletico badge: "It's difficult to explain. But it's something very, very special."

Atletico Madrid have always revelled in a sense of inferiority, accepting and even promoting their status as underdogs, a club of community, in part as an antidote to the glamour and riches of Real Madrid.

"Proud not be like you," read the banner draped across the Calderon before the two sides met in the Champions League in 2017.

Simeone has always enjoyed positioning Atletico as imposters to the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. "Have you seen the team Barca has?" he said in October, when asked about Barca losing Lionel Messi. "Barca say 'Messi's gone, we lost 30 goals'. I say 'yeh you don't have 30 goals, well we never had them, we never had Messi'."

The problem was that when Atletico won La Liga, they were no longer imposters but favourites, thrust to a place they were neither used to nor comfortable with.

It is a shift they have wrestled with all season not only psychologically but tactically too. With talented players, and ones keen to attack, Simeone has struggled to find a system and style that fits.

"For a team like Atletico it's not easy to be champions; it's a club not used to being champions every year. Nothing you did before counts for anything. What counts is what lies ahead," Simeone said last month.

"Last season, games started and we would bite," said Jose Gimenez. "This year, I think we've eased off."

But there have been flickers, in the biggest games or most desperate moments, when the inferiority complex kicks in, and the old fire again burns hot.

After beating Osasuna on Saturday, Simeone was asked if the win could be a spur for the meeting with Manchester United at the Wanda Metropolitano.

"Everything helps," he said. "No year is the same, in football or in life. There are always obstacles and that's what we have now, a test. Let's see if we're up to it."

W.Odermatt--NZN