Atletico Madrid's wild eight-game run: The highs, the lows, the 'rage' and that 'two-touch' penalty

Has any team ever had as tough a run as this?

From February 25 to April 2, Atletico Madrid faced an eight-game stretch that featured three matches against La Liga leaders Barcelona (including a two-legged Copa del Rey semi-final), a Champions League round-of-16 tie against record 15-time winners and holders Real Madrid, hosting in-form Athletic Club and tricky away trips to Getafe and Espanyol.

It was a burst of games which had the potential to set up one of the best campaigns in the club’s history. Atletico’s self-image is that of outsiders always battling bigger and more powerful rivals — this was a chance for Diego Simeone’s team to demonstrate they are now a force in their own right after a near-€200million ($221m; £169m at current exchange rates) summer transfer spend.

Over five weeks there were great goals, needless errors, a sense of “rage” over a controversial refereeing call, one player being suspended for calling an official a “son of a huge b****” and much more.

The Athletic was there every step of the way.

February 25: Copa del Rey semi-final first leg vs Barcelona (away)

The day before Atletico’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at Barcelona, the club’s training ground in Majadahonda, to the north-west of Madrid, was busier than usual.

Almost 50 reporters, photographers and TV camera operators packed into the tight press room for Simeone’s press conference. Asked by The Athletic for his feelings before such an important run of fixtures, the Argentine was keen to put his best foot forward.

“We’re excited, eager, motivated to compete and looking forward to taking each game in the best way we can,” he replied, with his excitement hidden behind a serious facial expression. “While, obviously, not looking any further than tomorrow’s game against Barcelona.”

What unfolded at Barca’s Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys was chaos. Julian Alvarez, a summer signing from Manchester City, squeezed in the opening goal from an Antoine Griezmann cross within 47 seconds and, five minutes later, Alvarez returned the favour for the Frenchman to seemingly put Atletico in control.

But Hansi Flick’s high press penned Atletico back and, by half-time, Barca were 3-2 up thanks to goals from Pedri, Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez’s free header from a corner. All three goals could have been better defended.

Robert Lewandowski’s tap-in to make it 4-2 with 15 minutes left seemed to put paid to any Atletico comeback. But — just as they had done in the December La Liga game at Montjuic — Simeone’s team found holes in the Barca defence. Late goals by Marcos Llorente and Alexander Sorloth — adding to the one he scored in that December match — rescued a scarcely believable 4-4 draw.

Simeone set off sprinting down the line in celebration, but quickly got his emotions back under control, knowing there was a long way still to go in the tie.

“At 2-0 up I thought, ‘Don’t get too happy as this doesn’t happen so easily’,” he said. “When it went 2-2 I said to myself, ‘This can happen’. At 3-2, the same. At 4-2, we were having a bad time. At 4-3, I felt we were close to equalising, and at 4-4 I thought, ‘This is close to a night that will leave our fans very happy’.”

Score in the tie: Barcelona 4 Atletico Madrid 4

March 1: La Liga vs Athletic Club (home)

After a 3-0 La Liga win against Valencia on February 22, Atletico were third in the table, just one point behind joint-leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Bilbao’s Athletic Club arrived at the Metropolitano in fourth place, unbeaten in any competition for five months. The Basque side were sure to provide a physical test and Simeone made five changes to his XI — including resting Alvarez and starting Sorloth.

In a 9pm kick-off played in the driving rain, Atletico tried to slow things down while Athletic responded by speeding up play.

The four substitutions made by Simeone within the first 62 minutes showed the importance of rotating players in this run. Among those to come on was Alvarez, who almost immediately steered in a confident finish to make it 1-0.

Athletic’s Benat Prados and Inaki Williams both hit the woodwork late in the game, before ex-Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher drew huge roars from the crowd with two sliding tackles across the sodden pitch to make sure the ball stayed up the other end in stoppage time.


Gallagher endeared himself to the crowd with his tenacity against Athletic (Guillermo Martinez/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

With the rain still pouring down, Simeone was off his feet orchestrating the singing in the stands. As the final whistle blew, Atletico were top of the La Liga table for the first time all season.

“Such an important win, not an easy game at all,” a smiling Alvarez told Spanish broadcaster Movistar. “We’re feeling good, in good form, on a good run. We’re up there in the battle, we’ve got to keep going like this.”

Simeone was asked about the importance of his substitutions in his post-match interview with Movistar.

“Legs, legs,” he said, as reported by Marca. “We’re entering a phase of the championship where we need legs. Here you have to run. It’s clear that we have to have that with the changes. We have to run.”

Score: Atletico Madrid 1 Athletic Club 0

La Liga standing after this gameweek: Second, one point behind Barcelona

March 4: Champions League round-of-16 first leg vs Real Madrid (away)

Much of the build-up to this quarter-final against Atletico’s city rivals centred on how Real Madrid had knocked them out of the Champions League four years in a row from 2014-2017, including painful defeats in the 2014 and 2016 finals.

Simeone did not particularly enjoy that narrative, preferring to proudly state before the game how he felt his club were now capable of challenging Spain’s traditional big two as equals.

“I always put Barcelona and Madrid at the top for their history, (while) we’re pure growth and development,” he said. “I wanted to bring this club to an important place in Europe, respecting its values and history. We’re going through extraordinary times. We must enjoy these moments and compete in the best way tomorrow.”

So allowing Rodrygo the space to put Real ahead with a fine effort after four minutes was difficult to understand. But Atletico regained a foothold and deservedly equalised around the half-hour mark, when Alvarez produced his own curling effort past the despairing dive of Madrid’s ex-Atleti No 1 Thibaut Courtois.

After half-time, Atletico were in control, showcasing a mature, possession-based style, far from the old ‘Dogs of War’ approach for which Simeone’s side were previously renowned. At times, the players on the pitch seemed calmer than their coach, who was kicking every ball and making every tackle on the sideline.

Just when Atletico seemed to be well on top, they suffered another sucker punch. Brahim Diaz was given the space to produce the third brilliant solo effort of the night to put Madrid 2-1 ahead. As you can see by The Athletic’s match dashboard, Atletico dominated a lot of the territory in central areas, and had more match momentum across the game.

“We reacted really well to the early goal, and began to play the game we wanted to play,” said Simeone. “In the second half, we again had control of the play, but without many chances. (Still), we could have done better in both their goals, and the tie is currently in their favour.”

Yet Simeone and his side did not leave the Bernabeu too disappointed. And the Atletico fans who stayed in the stadium for half an hour after the game, singing and chanting, believed they had a real chance of turning things around.

Score in the tie: Real Madrid 2 Atletico Madrid 1

March 9: La Liga vs Getafe (away)

Pundits pointed out pre-game that Simeone had never lost against Getafe in 27 previous meetings as coach, while Atletico had hammered their fellow Madrid side 5-0 in the Copa del Rey just a few weeks before.

But things started to go awry from the warm-up, when centre-back Clement Lenglet felt a thigh muscle problem, meaning Jose Maria Gimenez had to start despite Simeone wanting to give the Uruguay defender a rest.

The first half was very flat, summed up by Griezmann coming deep to try and get a move started, only to chip the ball straight out of play. Simeone tried to lift his team, bellowing at Rodrigo De Paul at one point and putting his arm around Alvarez’s shoulder the next.

Midway through the second half, a break went Atletico’s way. The VAR spotted a handball in the Getafe area, and substitute Sorloth calmly rolled in the penalty. With 88 minutes played, Atletico were set to return to the top of the La Liga table. Again, it seemed Simeone’s careful squad management had come up trumps.

Then another substitute, Angel Correa, was booked for a needlessly high challenge on Getafe’s Djene near halfway. After a long VAR consultation, referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez upgraded the caution to a red card. Correa did not agree, allegedly calling the official a ‘son of a huge b****, piece of s***, mother-f***** before he left the pitch — which would earn the Argentina forward a five-game ban.


Correa protests to referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez (Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Correa’s team-mates also lost their heads. Woeful defending allowed Getafe midfielder Mauro Arambarri to score two quick goals and completely turn the game around.

As 10 minutes of added time ticked to an end, Simeone slowly paced in front of his bench with his arms folded. At the final whistle, he ran down the tunnel while Getafe’s players, coaches and fans celebrated a rare win against their rivals.

“We had the game under control,” Atletico’s seemingly shellshocked midfielder Pablo Barrios told DAZN. “But with the sending-off, and being a player down, it slipped away from us in the end.”

Score: Getafe 2 Atletico Madrid 1

La Liga standing after this gameweek: Third, four points behind leaders Barcelona and one behind second-placed Real Madrid

March 12: Champions League round-of-16 second leg vs Real Madrid (home)

Atletico’s players usually sleep in their own beds on the night before home games, but Simeone changed policy before this pivotal derby.

The team were called to the Eurostars Suites Mirasierra hotel at 9pm on Tuesday evening. When 1,000 fans gathered outside the entrance, the squad lined up to applaud the singing, dancing, cheering, flag-waving and flare-throwing crowd of supporters.

Simeone smiled even less than he usually does in front of the media that evening but finally recognised the importance of the occasion.

“It makes me so happy to be preparing for a huge game like this, in our house, with our fans,” he said. “It produces happiness, adrenaline, excitement.”

There were lots of all three throughout most of the following evening. Gallagher poked in the opening goal after just 27 seconds to make it 2-2 on aggregate and the home side looked comfortable from there on.

This seemed to be a different Atletico who could compete on an equal footing with Madrid. They might not have as many galacticos as Carlo Ancelotti’s team, but Simeone has a squad full of experienced players who know how to win the biggest competitions for club and country.

Alvarez, the 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina who won the Champions League with City, is the symbol of that leap in quality — and was twice denied brilliantly by Courtois as he looked to put Atletico further ahead. As shown in the match facts below, Atletico’s eight shots on target tested Real Madrid’s goalkeeper far more than their three conceded across 120 minutes.

Atletico should have gone and won the game but seemed to hesitate, as if lacking that final burst of self-belief. As the game entered extra time, nerves inside the stadium grew and penalties seemed inevitable.

Madrid were 2-1 ahead in the shootout when Alvarez fired home his team’s second spot kick — only for the VAR to see the smallest of double touches as he struck the ball. When referee Szymon Marciniak crossed his arms to rule out the effort, it was impossible not to think about Atletico’s recent history in Europe. UEFA has since said it will discuss that ‘double touch’ law with FIFA, the world governing body, and the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the laws of the game.

Marcos Llorente hit the crossbar with Atletico’s fourth penalty, giving Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger the chance to win the tie. Jan Oblak could not keep the centre-back’s effort out, despite getting a hand to it.

Rudiger sprinted away in celebration. Gestures he and team-mates Kylian Mbappe, Dani Ceballos and Vinicius Junior are alleged to have made towards Atletico fans remain the subject of a UEFA disciplinary investigation.


Alvarez slips as he takes his penalty (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Many Atletico fans — and players and staff — probably did not even notice. The team raised themselves for a gloomy lap of appreciation for their supporters, but most had already drifted out into the long, sad night. It was yet another cruel Champions League exit for Atletico against Madrid — their fifth in the last 11 years.

Simeone tried his best to be magnanimous during his media appearances, but finally snapped when asked by a local reporter if he had watched a replay of Alvarez’s ‘two-touch’ penalty.

“Have you seen it, does he touch it? Did you see it or not?”,” the coach asked.

Taken aback, the reporter replied that he was not sure. With a wolfish smile on his lips, Simeone looked around the room, his voice rising and his tone strengthening: “Don’t be afraid. Any of you here, did you see Julian touch the ball twice? Come on, who saw the two touches? Raise your hand…”

When nobody dared respond, Simeone said, “No, OK, there we go, next question”.

The Argentine was clearly hurting. But he also knew the season was far from over, and his job was to try and lift the Atletico family before the remaining challenges to come.

“There are two ways to go to bed tonight,” Simeone said. “We could tell ourselves how bad this is, how we could not play as we had to, did not put the effort in, or compete. Another way to go to sleep is knowing we gave everything, this team deserves applause. Unfortunately we’re no longer in the competition, but I’m leaving in peace.”

Result: Atletico Madrid 1 Real Madrid 0 (2-2 on aggregate, Real Madrid win 4-2 on penalties)

March 16: La Liga vs Barcelona (home)

Simeone did something very unusual for him in his press conference before this game by commenting on something not directly related to the coming 90 minutes.

“Normally I’d just say ‘Barcelona’ (next opponent),” he said, when the Alvarez ‘double-touch’ penalty call came up again. “But the situation requires me to explain my feelings of rage, anger and injustice.”

Those feelings fuelled Atletico’s start the following evening. Through an evenly matched first half, there were few signs of mental or physical fatigue. Just before the break, Barca centre-forward Robert Lewandowski missed a straightforward chance for 1-0. Seconds later, Atletico went in front thanks to a superbly executed counter-attack, finished by Alvarez.

There were massive cheers early in the second half when Giuliano Simeone hurtled forward 40 yards to win a loose ball despite Barca left-back Alejandro Balde being favourite for the ball. A few yards away on the sideline, a proud father raised his fists in appreciation.

Gallagher and Sorloth entered on the hour mark. When the Englishman set up the Norwegian to make it 2-0, Atletico had a platform to hold onto.

But, directly from the restart, Lewandowski was allowed to take down a long ball into the box, swivel and find the far bottom corner. It was another hammer blow

Simeone blamed himself afterwards for not having brought on another defender sooner. Before centre-back Gimenez could come on, more slack marking allowed Ferran Torres a free header to make it 2-2.

Atletico threw players forward as the game reached its final minutes. That left spaces at the back — and Lamine Yamal took full advantage to produce a shot which cruelly deflected off left-back Reinildo and looped out of Oblak’s reach to the net for 3-2. Torres capitalised on an ever-exposed defence to fire home a fourth for Barca.

On the final whistle, there was deep quiet inside the Metropolitano.

A few Atletico players went to clap their hardcore fans behind one goal. Bit by bit, the rest of the team joined them. It was all so subdued: players bowed their heads with shoulders slumped.

Among the last players to leave the pitch were veteran leaders Griezmann and Oblak, who stayed deep in conversation, with the goalkeeper fiercely gesturing. The very last down the tunnel was Giuliano Simeone, with hands in his tracksuit pockets and a glum look on his face. An Atleti staff member patted the 22-year-old on the back, before they both disappeared down the tunnel.

When Diego Simeone finally showed for his press conference more than an hour later, The Athletic asked if bad fortune had cost his team, given the crucial deflection which made it 3-2 after Alvarez’s penalty four days earlier.

“It’s not about luck, it’s about being able to impose yourself on the game,” Simeone replied. “We did that for a while today, but then they got back to 2-1 quickly, soon it was 2-2, then the 3-2 that comes off Reinildo… but that’s not about luck. If Lamine doesn’t take the shot, it doesn’t happen. I wouldn’t say (it’s) luck.”

Score: Atletico Madrid 2 Barcelona 4

La Liga standing after this gameweek: Third, seven points behind leaders Barcelona and four behind second-placed Real Madrid

March 29: La Liga vs Espanyol (away)

The 13-day pause brought by last month’s international break provided a welcome change of scene for most of Atletico’s players and their coach.

“It was tough, but we are back, full of motivation and energy,” Simeone said on his return. “I went to Argentina for a while, to see my family, my birthplace and where I grew up, and suck energy from my people.”

On paper, the trip to Espanyol was the easiest of the games during this brutal run, given the Barcelona-based side have been battling relegation all season. But the Catalans have not lost at home since October — with four wins and four draws since then, including a 1-0 win against Real Madrid in early February.

Simeone’s side made a fast start — Griezmann teed up Llorente to fire in after two minutes, only to be flagged offside. Nothing much then happened until Atletico left-back Cesar Azpilicueta, starting his first game in three months, scored his first goal in three years, with a phenomenal 25-yard effort into the top corner.

With 70 minutes played, Atletico had just over 60 per cent possession and neither goalkeeper had even made a save. But then referee Javier Alberola Rojas whistled for a clear shirt-pull by Lenglet on Espanyol defender Leandro Cabrera in the area.


Simeone in full flow on the touchline (Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)

Espanyol captain Javi Puado slammed an unstoppable spot kick to the top corner to make it 1-1. Atletico roused themselves to try and find a winner, but the closest they came was a limp, 25-yard shot from Griezmann which bounced into the arms of keeper Joan Garcia.

Blowing another lead late on meant that Atletico had won just one of their last seven games.

“We’ve dropped two more important points, it’s difficult to explain, I don’t why this is happening to us,” Oblak told Movistar. “It’s a difficult moment, we can’t win games. We don’t have the consistency necessary (to fight for the title). We’re dropping points, falling behind.”

Atletico’s realistic hopes of silverware now rested on the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Barca.

Score: Espanyol 1 Atletico Madrid 1

La Liga standing after this gameweek: Third, nine points behind leaders Barcelona and six behind second-placed Real Madrid

April 2: Copa del Rey semi-final second leg vs Barcelona (home)

Simeone was asked before this game how he managed his team’s fear of failure given recent experiences.

“Well, failure is a big word,” he replied. “If you don’t try, you never fail. We’re having a very good season, we competed very well in the Champions League, and are competing well in La Liga and Copa del Rey. We keep going game by game, and in the end we’ll know if it was a very good season, extraordinary, or regular.”

The following evening, the atmosphere outside the Metropolitano as the teams arrived was as raucous and smoky as ever. Inside the ground, the club anthem was sung as lustily as ever before kick-off.

All that pent-up emotion was followed by a lack of composure on the pitch. Four Atletico players were booked by half-time, with Simeone — wearing his ‘lucky’ Copa del Rey tracksuit instead of his usual all-black suit — also talking his way into referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero’s book.

The main source of frustration was an inability to stop Yamal on Barca’s left wing and the 17-year-old set up Torres’ opening goal with a beautiful, slide-rule assist. Simeone made a triple switch at the break, sending on Sorloth to form a three-man front line with Griezmann and Alvarez — a risky move, but Atletico had little left to lose.

Now, Atletico were at least moving forward. Sorloth had two chances — the first blazed well wide, the second smashed home but clearly offside.

When the crowd fell quiet, Simeone urged them to make more noise. He kept making changes and tactical tweaks and his team kept pushing, showing more ‘heart’ than ‘head’. Added time brought a free kick and a corner to toss into the Barca box, but the Catalan side held on to make it a Clasico Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid in Seville on April 26.

Again, Atletico had given everything; again, they had fallen short. A 5-4 aggregate win for Barca was hardly comprehensive but no consolation for anyone in red and white.

Result: Atletico Madrid 0 Barcelona 1 (Barcelona win 5-4 on aggregate)

The aftermath

Atletico have very little to look forward to now until the end of this season before FIFA’s new Club World Cup in the United States in the summer.

There were fine moments for Atletico in that run — Sorloth’s goal to make it 4-4 in the Copa first leg, Gallagher’s sliding challenges against Athletic Club, Alvarez’s superb finishes against Barca, Athletic and Madrid.

There were also big what-if moments, including Alvarez’s penalty slip and Yamal’s deflected shot in La Liga.

“(Nahuel) Molina had one where he could have shot where he wanted to assist,” Simeone told DAZN after the 4-2 defeat against Barcelona, as reported by Marca. “Sorloth had one, (Rodrigo) Riquelme had another… they couldn’t do it. Those are moves which I call ‘almost’ (situations) and we’re left with that almost which was nothing.”

But there were also some self-inflicted wounds. Correa’s red card at Getafe, Lenglet’s shirt pull at Espanyol and a poor collective first-half effort in the final game against Barca were all avoidable.

“We thank our fans, we’re just as sad as they are,” Gimenez told Movistar after that loss. “All we can do is keep going, accept the reality. The end of the season is still very far away, but we’ll keep playing, and see where we finish in La Liga. We’re sorry for those moments when we were just not good enough.”

Additional contributor: Mark Carey

(Top photo: Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua via Getty Images)



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