Atletico Madrid's 10 Greatest Games of 2016: Nos. 6-10
2016 has been an interesting year for Atletico Madrid, but ultimately it will be viewed as one of missed opportunities.
The UEFA Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in Milan in May—their second in three seasons—is a result which might take more than a year to get over, and after finishing third in La Liga last season, this campaign has been a frustrating one domestically.
Diego Simeone’s side sit way off the pace in La Liga, but they have at least excelled in the Champions League again, with five wins from six matches seeing them breeze into the last 16 ahead of a winnable meeting with Bayer Leverkusen in the new year.
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But what of the last 12 months? Starting today and ending on Saturday, we count down Atletico Madrid’s 10 greatest games of 2016, starting with No. 10:
10. Atletico Madrid 3-1 Eibar, February 6, La Liga
It might look a routine league win over one of the league’s minnows, but this clash with Eibar in February was so much more.
After a goalless first half, Atletico had fallen behind just a minute into the second period when Keko opened the scoring for the spirited visitors, but that only served to act as a red rag to a bull for the title-chasing hosts.
Two goals in seven minutes either side of the hour mark turned the tables, with Jose Gimenez and Saul Niguez the scorers, before the moment of the match—and one of Atletico’s moments of the year—in stoppage time.
Fernando Torres had been without a goal for 19 games, but when he popped up to convert Luciano Vietto’s cross in stoppage time it was his 100th strike for the club, sparking wild celebrations among the supporters.
9. Atletico Madrid 5-1 Real Betis, April 2, La Liga
As the title chase heated up in April, Atletico were desperate to bounce back from a shock defeat at Sporting Gijon that placed them behind both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
A home clash with Real Betis looked to be the perfect chance to do that, but the opening 37 minutes at the Vicente Calderon were largely frustrating ones for the hosts—until Torres pounced.
The veteran forward opened both the scoring and the floodgates, with Antoine Griezmann adding a second to take the game away from Betis.
At 2-0, it would have been very like Atletico to shut up shop and see out the game, but Simeone’s side kept attacking in the second period.
Full-back Juanfran weighed in with a rare goal—his only one of last season—in the second period, and after Ruben Castro added a consolation, Atletico struck two more in the final 10 minutes through Griezmann again and Thomas Partey.
8. Atletico Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich, September 28, Champions League
The Champions League has been the competition which has produced Atletico’s most consistent performances this season, and the best was perhaps September’s group-stage win over Bayern Munich at the Vicente Calderon.
The clash was seen as the ultimate test of what had been a fine run of form for Simeone’s side, and although they blunted Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern, it was the manner in which they did it that surprised and impressed many onlookers.
This wasn’t the routine, defensive, win-at-all-costs Atletico, but instead a more expansive and attacking side, who won thanks to a solitary goal from Yannick Carrasco in the first half.
The Belgium international—enjoying a wonderful start to the season—picked the ball up and charged towards the Bayern goal, before powering a low shot past Manuel Neuer and into the net via the post.
It was a huge statement of intent from Simeone’s side, and given the other results against fellow group opponents PSV Eindhoven and FC Rostov, it set them up to finish top of the group, securing a much easier challenge in the round of 16 in 2017.
7. Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid, April 5, Champions League
Sure, it was a defeat, but the spirit Atletico showed in this quarter-final first-leg clash set them up for a win in the second.
Barcelona had been huge favourites with many when the tie was drawn, but plenty of those had forgotten that Simeone’s side had often had the better of the Catalan giants whenever they'd met them, with their defensive stranglehold on their star players often coming up trumps.
In this clash, they started well and opened the scoring when Torres pounced to sweep home the opener past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
But what was a remarkable moment for the veteran forward turned sour 10 minutes later when he picked up a second yellow card and was sent off. Suddenly a difficult task became a lot tougher.
Playing with 10 men, though, Atletico doubled down in their efforts to frustrate and worry their hosts.
The Camp Nou grew increasingly nervous, but the chances that the hosts were creating were always likely to tell in the end, and two predatory finishes from Luis Suarez—one of the players of 2016 for any team—turned the first leg in Barca’s favour.
However, 2-1 away defeats in first legs are never too damaging, and the fact this had been achieved with 10 men for the majority of the match seemingly planted a seed of doubt in Barca’s minds.
It would be a seed that would grow the following week.
6. Celta Vigo 0-4 Atletico Madrid, September 10, La Liga
Back-to-back draws against newly promoted Alaves and Las Palmas made it a deeply underwhelming start to the league season for Atletico, who were struggling to implement Simeone’s new, more attacking outlook and often looking a little confused in their play.
The first international break of the season was seen as something of a godsend, but there were more worries after it that lessons hadn’t been learned following an underwhelming first half at Celta Vigo.
In the second, things suddenly changed. Atletico exploded into life, scoring four goals, with Koke getting the first just eight minutes into half.
In the final 17 minutes, the visitors added three more goals; two from Griezmann and one from Angel Correa.
It was a statement victory for Simeone’s side, who followed up the win with a run of eight wins from nine matches in all competitions.
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