Cholo maintains his obsession with winning the Champions League, despite the fact that his Atletico have lost twice in the first phase in the last six years and never made it past the quarter-finals
Under the umbrella of the last atrocity, with that penalty kick in which Carrasco first collided with the goalkeeper, then Saúl’s crossbar and finally Reinildo on the Belgian’s own heel when the ball had already gone in, Atlético dusted off its historic fatalism. But far beyond such a bizarre epilogue, reality dictates the massive failure of the rojiblanco team, with Cholo Simeone at the helm, in this Champions League. Adding just two points out of a possible twelve against Bruges, third in the weak Belgian league, and Leverkusen, fifteenth in the Bundesliga, is an unmitigated disaster. Same as dropping out of the top continental competition with one day to go before the end of the group stage.
Next week, Atlético will fight in Porto for the consolation of at least participating in the Europa League. As Simeone himself warned, things get complicated. The normal course of events is that Xabi Alonso’s group defeats Bruges in the Bay Arena and that the colchoneros in Do Dragao have to beat an enemy who will compete for the group leadership. It is the second time in ten years that the Cholo team has not made it through the first phase. In the previous, rivals like Chelsea and Roma were more substantive, but not Qarabag. That course became Atlético champion of the second continental division.
Simeone left mixed signals on Wednesday. After the draw (2-2) against Leverkusen, his gestures sounded like a goodbye. Once the elimination was completed, he walked away from the players and from the center of the field looked excitedly to the fans from the south side who applauded the team’s wasted effort. By the way, some followers say that this campaign doesn’t chant Cholo in every game. One of the reasons is Atlético’s flirtation with Cristiano Ronaldo over the summer.
“At the moment a lot of thoughts come to my mind,” Simeone said enigmatically about Movistar. There is great uncertainty about the continuity of the technician and his project, although he still has one campaign on his contract. Just in case Cholo tried to shed some light on his post-elimination appearance. “I have no doubt that the Champions League is difficult for me, but I am a hardhead and I will keep pushing for as long as I have the chance at this club,” he said.
Cholo is holding out, but in the last six seasons he has been knocked out twice in the group stage and never made it through the quarter-finals of the European elite. Whether or not Atlético can continue its way in Europe via the secondary road, the work of the highest-paid coach in the world is increasingly being criticized. El Cholo is the problem and the solution at the same time. He was able to lift a depressed club beyond short lived joys such as the Europa League won in 2010 with Quique Sánchez Flores on the bench and Kun Agüero and Forlán on the pitch.
In his first six months, Simeone celebrated another triumph in that second European competition. In perspective, the great credit is that those titles that for Atlético were the successes of a century that began with the team in the Second, are now considered a decline in category. Cholo’s jack has failed to get his team on the favorites list for the champions every year.
Atlético has failed after playing the Champions League final in 2016. The following year, he was able to finish first for Bayern and reach the semi-finals, where he lost to Real Madrid. In 2018, they did not make it past the group stage, but made up for it by winning the Europa League. Since then, his ceiling has been in the quarter-finals, a round in which he fell at Leipzig in 2020 and against Manchester City last year.
“It’s a difficult moment, unexpected. It’s the second time in ten years that we’ve come out of the round of 16. The reality is that last year it was really hard for us to go into the next round, but there are two places to put yourself in life, victimhood or keep working and I’m about to work through. Cholo’s word, that he only gave Joao Félix three minutes in the final against Lverkusen, plus the discount. But that’s another matter.
Source: La Verdad
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
