Has there ever been a more intriguing pairing for a Champions League final than the teams of Madrid – Real and Atlético – who meet on Sunday morning?
For the first time in the 59-year history of the European Cup, two clubs from the same city meet in the final, a contest dripping with subplots.
By air, road and rail, 70,000 fans are making the pilgrimage from Madrid to Lisbon.
For Real it is all about ‘La Decima’ – the quest for a tenth European Cup – a mission which began not long after they won a record ninth at Hampton Park in Glasgow, in 2002.
Twelve years is a long time to wait for a club where losing, and even winning without style, isn’t accepted.
According to manager Carlo Ancelotti, winning La Decima has been “a close line between a dream and an obsession”.
Eulogising the feats of Atlético has become a genre of its own in recent times. Last weekend they clinched the Spanish league title by going to Barcelona and drawing 1-1, undaunted by 98,000 opposition fans – fans that graciously applauded them afterwards.
Undaunted has been their way all season. Despite a smallish squad and therefore limited rotation, Atlético have played 61 games and lost only six. They eliminated giants from the Champions League – AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea – in the knockout rounds.
They triumphed in arguably the world’s strongest league with a budget one-fifth of Real’s, and a wage bill far smaller than Queens Park Rangers, a second-tier English club. Before this season their most talented played, Radamel Falcao, departed, joining Monaco for a fee believed to be around €60 million.
Manager Diego Simeone deserves all the praise coming his way. Since taking over a mediocre mid-table side at Christmas in 2011, he’s won the Europa League, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and now La Liga.
On Simeone, midfielder Tiago said: “He has changed everything. He is like a God. Whatever he says comes true. If he asks us to jump from a bridge, we jump.”
Madrid’s Tricolours are regarded as the more working class club, almost perennially overshadowed by Real, the chosen team of the establishment. Atlético was always characterized by a sentimiento de rebeldía – a sense of rebellion. That underdog peskiness has imbued this current squad, whose triumphs have been based on workrate, determination and physicality. I expect Atlético to make the final a cagey one.
Spanish football expert Sid Lowe once wrote: “There is a whole generation of kids – and in fact, Spanish football correspondents – who have never seen Atlético win against Real. No matter what they tried, no matter what they did, no matter what the conditions, they simply couldn’t win. There was a crushing inevitability about defeat that fed into an identity being built on failure. Atlético were El Pupas, the jinxed one.”
That was prior to last season’s Copa Del Rey final, in which Atlético incredibly prevailed by coming from behind at the Bernabeu, Real’s home. That win broke a streak of 25 games without defeating their neighbours.
And yet, it would just be Club Atlético de Madrid to lose the European final to their most hated rivals in a year when they finally became champions of Spain. Manchester City winning the English title in 1968, the same year United became the first English club to win the European Cup, is a comparison which springs to mind.
That sense of fate, of destiny, of La Decima, is perhaps one reason why Real are $1.48 favourites to lift the trophy in Lisbon (Atlético are $2.60), despite being inferior over the 38 rounds of La Liga. More importantly, Los Blancos boast an array of stars who can change a tight match in an instant. Superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria are primed and ready.
Then again, Atlético have defyied expectations all season. They remain the only unbeaten team in this season’s Champions League. They’re unbeaten in eight European ties against Spanish opposition (5 wins, 3 draws).
Both sides are hurt by injury and suspension. The intelligent passing and experience of Xabi Alonso will be absent from the Real midfield after he collected one yellow card too many in the semi-final second leg. For Atlético, Diego Costa – their major source of goals – and Turk Arda Turan are both serious doubts with injury. Real’s defender Pepe and striker Karim Benzema also remain doubts.
In the 194 previous derby meetings, Real have won 102 and Atlético 46. Tonight, they contest derby number 195, and the biggest of all.
PREDICTION: Real Madrid 2-1 after extra time
Follow Simon on Twitter @simmo_melb89
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