Give it up. Give it up for Simeone who has somehow, yet again, taken a bunch of part-timers and cactus cleaners to a Champions League Final. And oh, they've beaten the two favorites on their way to this final. Don't be fake y'all. Everyone out there either picked Bayern or Barcelona to be Champions League champions. NOBODY and I mean NO ONE thought Atletico would make the final. Maybe a semi, but to be in the final two again?
And it all goes back to a man who is arguably the best manager in the world right now. It's really down to his incredible coaching, tactical knowledge and motivation that has created one of the great underdogs that European football has seen. Let's be real here; Atletico should not be beating Bayern and Barcelona whose benches would probably be better than them.
The big difference between Simeone and Pep and the reason why I believe Atletico caused a shock was one cared about the two legs and the other didn't. Maybe it would have been different if Bayern played the second leg away, but end of the day is Simeone had a plan for both legs and it all worked to perfection. He knew what they had to do at home, and they did so. His plan was to score which they did, and the other side of the coin was preventing Bayern from getting their G.
Bingo.
But it was in the second leg that Simeone showed what makes this Atletico such a great team. Anyone watching that first half and saw how dominant Bayern were, with Atletico hardly getting any touches or even threatening to attack; we all assumed this would be Bayern scoring the goals needed to win the game. That is the biggest mistake you can make with Atletico. Just when Bayern got a little too overconfident, all it took was one over-eager push up the field from Boateng and it was three passes between Koke, Griezmann and Blondie that lead to the crucial away goal.
Sucker punch. Game over.
It's what Simoene has built all these years and it's a recipe that every small team must copy. Even if you don't have all the great individual talent, if you defend well and keep you shape with also playing simple basic football; you can defeat the bigger boys. Atletico have really breathed life back into football just like Leicester City. Both teams showing once the referee blows the whistle, it's eleven v eleven (unless the ref has other ideas) and any team can win.
With Simeone taking Atletico to another final that nobody saw them getting to, they really have to finish off what they didn't a few years ago. It might very well be against the same team, their rivals. If any team deserves to win this trophy after all that they've done, then it's Atletico...and sweet, sweet revenge may await them in the San Siro. HH
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