Atletico Madrid's 10 Greatest Games of 2016: Nos. 5-1
It has been an interesting year for Atletico Madrid but ultimately one of missed opportunities.
May’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in Milan—their second in three seasons—is a result which it 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 old one?
Having started our countdown on Thursday, here we conclude our rundown of Atletico Madrid’s 10 greatest games of 2016, starting with No. 5:
5. Real Madrid 0-1 Atletico Madrid, February 27, La Liga
Any win over Atletico’s capital rivals is always welcome, particularly one at the Santiago Bernabeu.
And Simeone’s side pulled off the latest in a long line of impressive results against Real Madrid in late February, inflicting what is still one of only two defeats suffered by Zinedine Zidane during his time at the club.
With the league title race heating up, there was plenty on the line at the Bernabeu, but Atletico once again skillfully saw off their celebrated opponents thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s goal just eight minutes into the second half.
It was a well-executed victory, and almost the perfect Simeone performance as Real seemed to lose their heads in the final few moments of the match.
In the end, it ultimately wasn’t enough to see Atletico finish above Real in the table, but at the time it looked as though it was going to be the inspiration for just that, with the victory followed by wins over Real Sociedad, Valencia and Deportivo.
4. Bayern Munich 2-1 Atletico Madrid, May 3, UEFA Champions League
The first leg of this UEFA Champions League semi-final was probably the more memorable for Atletico supporters, seeing as it will surely go down as one of the greatest nights in Vicente Calderon history—but more of that later.
Atletico had a one-goal lead to protect, and they set about doing it in their usual uncompromising fashion, sitting deep and frustrating Pep Guardiola’s side, with the Catalan boss desperate to finally advance beyond the last four of this competition in his third and final season with Bayern.
When Xabi Alonso fired home a free-kick from just outside the box after 31 minutes, it looked as though that was about to happen. And then when Bayern earned a penalty just three minutes later, it looked certain.
However, Jan Oblak saved Thomas Muller’s kick to spark new life into the visitors, who then scored a crucial away goal early in the second half when Griezmann sprinted away and finished confidently past Manuel Neuer.
A frustrated Bayern now needed two goals to progress, and they got one back 16 minutes from time through the prolific Robert Lewandowski.
Tension was now high, but Atletico held firm.
Fernando Torres then had a chance to kill the tie six minutes from time only to miss his penalty, and the visitors somehow withstood a late barrage from the home side to progress to their second Champions League final in three years.
3. Atletico Madrid 7-1 Granada, October 15, La Liga
Okay, so Granada didn’t prove to be the toughest of opponents, but this clash in October showcased just what Atletico can do when they let loose and really show their attacking flair—scoring seven goals in a match for only the second time this century.
It came towards the end of a run of eight wins in nine matches at the start of this season which really hinted that a title challenge was on the way, and the football they displayed in dismissing such meek opposition really was quite astounding.
What made it even more amazing was that they fell a goal down to a strike from Isaac Cuenca after 18 minutes at the Calderon, before scoring their first goal of the game on 34 minutes and then never looking back from there.
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco hit a hat-trick inside 26 minutes before Nicolas Gaitan added two more goals, and there were strikes for Angel Correa and Tiago.
It was the type of thumping win that many have claimed Atletico aren’t capable of producing, but they proved them wrong with a display of verve and attacking power which sadly isn’t more commonplace.
2. Atletico Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich, April 27, UEFA Champions League
The first leg of the tie listed at No. 4 turned into everything that the Vicente Calderon specialises in, with Bayern struggling to perform in a difficult atmosphere and ultimately failing to score the away goal which would have put a deeply different complexion on the tie.
In the end, it was settled with a stunning moment of brilliance from the midfielder Saul Niguez after just 11 minutes, when he picked up the ball in midfield and waltzed past several Bayern challenges before planting an unerringly accurate shot into the corner of the net.
With Atletico set to leave their stadium next year, it isn’t an exaggeration to say that this was one of the greatest goals ever scored there, and it set Simeone’s side up perfectly.
At the back, the injured Diego Godin was hardly missed at all as the centre-back partnership of Stefan Savic and Jose Gimenez brilliantly blunted Lewandowski. As Atletico rode on the tidal wave of the atmosphere, they delivered a vital first-leg victory.
At full-time, Simeone smiled, and although he knew that the job was only half done, this was a hugely significant step.
1. Atletico Madrid 2-0 Barcelona, April 13, UEFA Champions League
There was bad blood hanging in the air from the first leg of UEFA Champions League quarter-final at the Camp Nou, where Torres had given Atletico the lead only to be sent off soon after, and Luis Suarez had turned the tables with two goals despite being lucky to stay on the field following a challenge on Filipe Luis.
This night was all about Antoine Griezmann’s ascent though, and the Frenchman opened the scoring with a stunning header from an even more stunning outside of the foot cross from Saul.
It was a strike which gave Atletico the slimmest of advantages on away goals, and it frustrated Barca so much that they couldn’t get back into the game.
Many people’s favourites for the Champions League huffed and puffed but couldn’t break down the home side, and the Calderon let out a huge roar when an Andres Iniesta handball led to Griezmann firing home the second from the penalty spot with two minutes remaining.
Plenty saw the victory as justice being done following Atletico’s fine first-leg display, and as their home ground showed their appreciation of their side’s efforts at full-time, the only sadness was that this stadium won’t see many more nights like this.
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