Fernando Torres Brace Maintains Diego Simeone's Grip over Real Madrid

In the lead-up to Atletico Madrid's second-leg clash with Real Madrid in the round of 16 in the Copa del Rey at the Santiago Bernabeu, Diego Simeone was asked whether Fernando Torres would feature again against the European champions.

At the time, the Atleti manager wasn't definitive with his response, but he did express what he wanted from the club's prodigal son.

"What we're looking at from him is that whenever the team needs him, he can give us all his footballing strength and his goals," the Argentine said of El Nino, per Inside Spanish Football's Heath Chesters. 

It took Torres 46 seconds on Thursday to give his boyhood club the first of those goals, to give Simeone's men the lead—and a 3-0 aggregate advantage—against Real Madrid.

The tie almost won, 1-0.

After the half-time interval, it took him 33 seconds to give the club his second.

The tie definitely won, 2-1.

Though Cristiano Ronaldo pulled the score back to 2-2, Atletico cruised to the final whistle to extend their record against their crosstown rivals to three wins and two draws from five games this season, progressing into the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey in the process. 

Any way you look at it, Simeone and Los Colchoneros have a grip over Real Madrid. 

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

For Torres, this was an important night but also not one to get carried away with. This wasn't a watershed evening that announced the forward's return to the excellence of his Liverpool years.

No, Thursday's game was Torres' first step toward feeling valuable at Atletico—to feeling as though he can contribute, even if just briefly. 

It was, without question, the true poacher's performance. 

Before his substitution in the 58th minute, the Spaniard touched the ball just 26 times and completed a pass on only 13 occasions, per WhoScored.com. His own goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, almost doubled both of those tallies. Keylor Navas, the Real Madrid gloveman who spent the bulk of the first half as much a spectator as those in the stands, finished with more too.

But Torres finished the night with the only two stats that count: two shots on target, two goals. During his spell at Chelsea—or at AC Milan—he might have needed 100 shots to do the same. 

Indeed, his previous clubs could only dream of such efficiency—the quality that for two seasons has been the defining trait of this Atletico Madrid outfit.

On Thursday at the Bernabeu, Torres happily conformed. 

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

But this clash with Real Madrid was about more than Torres; it was further evidence that Atleti possess the know-how to deal with Carlo Ancelotti's stars. 

"We are happy, we've executed a smart game," Simeone said after the match, per Inside Spanish Football's Jamie Kemp. "We had to take advantage of our chances with our quick forwards. The goals came right at the beginning of the halves because of it."

One suspects that the typically ferocious manager won't consider Thursday's match as one of his team's finest, but it was a job complete. A shutdown achieved. Progression to the next round secured. 

"It was tough, there were a lot of people. The choreography was very nice, but the early goal set the rhythm of the match. It was not in the plan," Simeone added when speaking of his team's rapid response to the buoyant atmosphere inside the stadium when Ronaldo lifted his Ballon d'Or trophy to the crowd.

This season, Atleti have had a habit of landing early blows on their neighbours. In the Liga meeting in September, Tiago nodded home the visitors' opener in the 10th minute. Less than a month earlier in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Mario Mandzukic put Los Colchoneros ahead inside two minutes. 

On Thursday, Torres went better again. 

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

What's notable in Simeone's players when they face Real Madrid is that the game never feels as though it's getting away from them; there's an assurance about Atletico that Real can't seem to shake. Not this season, anyway. 

Five games undefeated, of course, tell their own story. But it's the method for success that's so compelling. So intriguing. So undeniably effective.

Simeone's players block, tackle, intercept and harass with unbridled vigour. Clattering into Ancelotti's technicians, they quell attacks at the source rather than the destination. They're acutely aware that while Real Madrid can land bigger blows, Atleti can wrestle harder. And for longer. 

At times—for the tacticians among us—watching Atletico defend can be mesmerising. For this is a team that has limited Real Madrid to four goals in five games this season; the same Real Madrid that obliterated half of Spain and a portion of Europe to conclude 2014. 

Atleti stifle Los Blancos like no other, and once they have, it's a matter of opportunism and efficiency at the other end. 

Torres carried out that task on Thursday, strengthening Simeone's grip over Real Madrid as he did so.  

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