Accustomed to righteous diatribes, like the one that said Atleti was the team of the people – something no one believes anymore given the squad and the money to build it – the favorite’s suit turned against Cholo. Comfortable in guerrilla warfare, in ambush and entanglement, for Simeone the final had melted into dark blue, almost black, until Julián Álvarez’s flash.
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A panorama at the antipodes of what he desired. Because, oh Cholo, how complex it is to build, how difficult it is to take the initiative, what a titanic task it is to find a crack in an ocean of legs, what a bland undertaking it is to row against the current against an intense, fierce opponent who can launch counterattacks. Because facing them was not an open, wonderful, and generous Barça, but a Real determined to preserve a result that was gold.
He had enough of the last minutes of regular time to lift a Cup earlier, which he ended up winning in the penalty shootout. Despite having a more extensive and stronger team than their rival, Atlético lost with the agony typical of its history, full of decisive fatalities.
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The eternal Simeone has accumulated 791 matches on the rojiblanco bench and five years without lifting a title. The mathematician Pellegrino Matarazzo has barely 19 matches with Real. Of Italian roots, raised in New Jersey, a Columbia graduate, and trained for football in the German coaching school, the San Sebastian club found its bonanza in the midst of desperation.
Could Atlético play better with another coach? One senses yes, but Atlético wouldn’t be Atlético without Simeone’s imprint. What a way to lose.
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