The thorn that Carlo Ancelotti said was wedged in Atlético Madrid’s side remains buried deep in their flesh, deeper and more painful than ever before. Six times now they have faced their city rivals in Europe, in 1959, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and again here and somehow they have been defeated in all of them, each more cruel than the last. The team that lost a European Cup final after a 93rd-minute equaliser and another on penalties was beaten again, and even if it was only a last-16 tie, this might just be the worst of them all. In part that is because of the pain accumulated, in part it is because of how it happened.
How it happened was barely believable, even for a battle between these two. If Atlético didn’t beat Real this time, they may feel they never, ever will. Just when it seemed that fate might have shifted, it twisted the knife again. A goal after 29 seconds, a missed Vinícius Júnior penalty and a superb performance put them back on the spot again, another shootout. And there, they lost when Marcos Llorente smashed his against the bar and Jan Oblak got a hand on Antonio Rüdiger’s decisive kick but just couldn’t keep it out.
More to the point, more controversially, more cruelly, absurdly, they lost when Julián Alvarez’s penalty, which did go in, was ruled out by VAR because he slipped and kicked it twice. He wasn’t given the chance to kick it again, Atlético were not given closure, sunk in the most barely believable way, a story written in twisted verse.
“Only God knows what is going to happen,” Diego Simeone had said, but even He didn’t expect this start. They had only been playing 29 seconds – and it was only Atlético who had played those – when this place erupted, the noise shaking the stadium, 70,000 people watching their side move the ball from back to front. Real only touched it once, when Raúl Asencio stretched to reach a long pass forward and that lunged succeeded only in dropping the ball at the feet of Conor Gallagher, space suddenly opening, striped shirts running at Real.
Gallagher played it to Alvarez but didn’t stop. Alvarez went wide to Rodrigo De Paul on the right and his cross went through the legs of Giuliano Simeone at the near post. Flying in behind him, Gallagher slid in and scored. Less than a minute in, and it was level, a whole match ahead of them. And if that was unexpected, what followed was perhaps a little more predictable. For a while, Real took possession. Atlético lay in wait, first to every ball, closing every avenue. Llorente wouldn’t let Vinícius escape, winning this clash of extraordinary athletes. Reinildo and Gallagher closed the other wing. In the middle, Kylian Mbappé rarely appeared. Jude Bellingham too was unable to truly influence this.
De Paul did, and how. When Atlético stepped forward, cautiously at first and then increasingly insistent, they created the chances that Real could not. Clear ones, too. On the right they repeatedly found their way in behind Ferland Mendy, a catalogue of clever angled passes providing the key that opened up Real, although it was from the left that Thibaut Courtois had to make his first sharp save from Alvarez. From the left, he had to cut out an Antoine Griezmann delivery, then push away a thumping effort from Alvarez. Clément Lenglet and José María Giménez meanwhile saw headers miss the target.
Just about the only time Real Madrid did deliver a dangerous cross, Aurélien Tchouaméni got in Bellingham’s way. Still, it was level at the break.
Real took a long time to come out for the second half which when it finally began almost did so as the first had, Courtois diving low to stop another shot from Alvarez after 60 seconds, the ball skidding towards the post from the edge of the area. Soon after that, Mendy slipped and Guiliano Simeone screeched away, his teammates streaming after him, Courtois grateful to see Llorente’s deflected cross drop just past the far post. Next, Asencio had to race across to wipe out Simeone as he looked set to sprint right through. From the free-kick, Lenglet headed wide.
On the touchline, Ancelotti’s frustration was clear. And yet it could be felt among the home fans too, that feeling, possibly even a fear, that when you don’t make the good moments count bad ones follow. They had experienced that eight days before, and in so many other derbies too, fate and Real inventing ever crueller ways to hurt them. They had no advantage yet and Real, who had started to stir, would surely awaken at some point.
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And then, it seemed the inevitable happened. A deep cross from Gallagher found Griezmann at the far post but his touch was poor and he did not have the legs to chase Eduardo Camavinga, who took the ball from him. Exposed for the first time, suddenly Real were running. Bellingham released Mbappé and he went at Atlético’s area, turning inside, where he was taken down by Lenglet. All that for this. Vinícius was set to be the executioner but his penalty went high and wide and into the stands, accompanied by the loudest roar of the night.
Maybe something really was shifting. Or maybe it wasn’t; instead it was just preparing for an even more painful end, a curse they cannot rid themselves of. Courtois made another save from Simeone but the minutes were slipping away, the tension rising, every pass, every run, every little thing now carrying the threat of finality, triumph or tragedy so close it could be touched. Never more so when Ángel Correa escaped and turned in the Real area in the 90th minute, his shot racing just beyond the bar.
Extra time though was inevitable: this was the ninth time they have needed more than 90 minutes since 2013. Everywhere, everyone was exhausted, but still they went for it. Rüdiger had to slide in to stop Correa, after an outrageous touch. Alexander Sørloth headed at goal. Fede Valverde flashed a shot wide. And then Llorente’s half volley flew wide. And so it went all the way to a shootout and all that hurt, the thorn pushed deeper, like in Milan 2016, something inevitable about it all. Diego Simeone gathered his players in a huddle, and sent them to face their fate one more time.
