Atletico vs Juventus: Look past Diego Simeone's crotch-grabbing theatrics and there lies a complete display
The Atletico manager could not stop himself celebrating in his own way but it's what his team achieved where they have struggled so often this season that really impressed
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If you thought you couldn’t get more definitively Atletico Madrid than winning a Champions League match with a clean sheet and both central defenders scoring from set-pieces, there was still Diego Simeone’s celebration of those goals, and his explanation.
The Argentine, not for the first time, made a huge show of grabbing his crotch and thrusting it forward.
Why? You can guess why.
“I wanted to say to our fans we have balls.”
Quite.
He repeated the sentiment to Italian media, too, pointedly referencing a similar incident with a Lazio player but this time using the term “coglioni”.
Simeone was really laying this on, but the convincing nature of this 2-0 win over Juventus was also clearly down to so much more than showing “balls”. Atletico actually showed another level.
That is not just because they’ve been so oddly vulnerable in the domestic league of late. It’s because this was such a complete performance from his team, the vibrant quality of the attacking equal to the defiant nature of the defending, as they utterly levelled one of the favourites. It was an improvement on their last few seasons in the Champions League as much as their last few months in the league.
That’s what makes this performance even more relevant, since one of the defining themes of this match was whether the two sides who have been so obsessed with finally winning this competition have actually come on; whether they’ve evolved.
It is only Atletico who have stepped up, and what was all the more important was that they so ruthlessly used Juventus’ growing weaknesses to show their new strengths.
It did tangibly feel as if Atletico sensed that Max Allegri’s side weren’t as resolute at the back as they’d expected, that they were fragile. Simeone’s side seized this, and made them pay. There was so much more adventure from Atletico, so much more spark to their attacking. And, most gallingly for Juventus, so much more space for them to show it.
This really could have been worse for the Italians than 2-0. Atletico ended up that much better.
That was what was so stark about the match, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising. Juventus have looked more suspect for some time.
The signs were there in the late 2-1 capitulation to Manchester United in the group stage, and then the loss to Young Boys.
If it was very untypical of Juventus to lose a game in the manner they did to United, it was an indication of something deeper that they then suffered defeat in a hugely forgiving fixture against Young Boys, where they went in knowing they had to get a result to make sure of winning the group. That did not bode well.
This was not the side we knew. And although Cristiano Ronaldo was supposed to take that side up a level, it is something that is already undercut by an underperforming defence, before we get to the Portuguese's own drop-off. One goal in six games is his worst Champions League return since 2005/06, when he was seen as little more than hugely unfocused potential.
He is now scoring much less in Europe, while the team is conceding much more: six in the last four games.
Time will tell if this is a more terminal problem, but it doesn’t look great. Their main hope, in fact, comes from looking at Atletico - or at least Atletico in the league.
They have often been as sloppy in Spain as Juve have in the Champions League, but there was no sign of that on Wednesday.
Simeone did actually admit that Atletico have had problems sustaining their famous intensity in La Liga, and it is possible the rarefied air of this prestigious competition - and one they are so obsessed with - merely restored. That has repeatedly happened with fading sides in the history of the European Cup. It is the highest level that actually sees them go back to their level.
“They are humans,” the Atletico manager said of his side’s sudden upsurge. “To keep winning all the time is very difficult. Sometimes we find it hard to keep it up. In La Liga, Barca and Madrid are so strong. (The) Champions League also has strong teams. But we aim to keep growing.”
They certainly did that against Juventus. They actually looked so much more than what they’ve been.
Juventus will now need a similar effect, a similar intensity, and the hope is that the high stakes of the second leg heightens their own senses.
They will need, well, balls. But they’ll also need more than that - especially if Atletico are anything like this.
Simeone's side ensured they were nothing like Juventus on Wednesday. They were levels above.
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