{"id":375,"date":"2025-01-25T11:04:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T12:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/?p=375"},"modified":"2025-01-28T16:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T16:09:10","slug":"analysis-much-more-than-just-a-comeback-the-uprising-at-atletico-madrid-and-diego-simeones-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/analysis-much-more-than-just-a-comeback-the-uprising-at-atletico-madrid-and-diego-simeones-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis: \u201cMuch more than just a comeback\u201d \u2013 The uprising at Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone\u2019s eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>If you had to choose, you\u2019d probably categorise Diego Simeone as more of canine figure than feline, but there was no mistake on Tuesday night \u2013 he was purring about his football team. Atletico Madrid went a man down after just 25 minutes to a smooth and sophisticated Bayer Leverkusen side, and in first half stoppage time, their defence was breached too. By full time, Simeone would be speaking with a warm, fatherly pride, eyes glowing. Giuliano Simeone wasn\u2019t the object of his praise though.<\/p>\n<p>Los Colchoneros beat, or rather ripped apart, Sparta Prague and Real Valladolid 6-0 and 5-0 respectively in the same week in November, and yet Simeone never came close to looking as thoroughly content as he did on Tuesday. El Cholo was set for the soundest of sleeps, nourished by everything he asks for. \u201cMuch more than just a comeback,\u201d in his own words. Humble, leadership, talent, goals. Those were adjectives Simeone used for Julian Alvarez, but they may as well have been for the team, and in part explains why the World Cup-winner is slowly but surely becoming the player that will justify his transfer fee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talked at half-time, we perfectly identified the game we had to play and we chose how to approach the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SIMEONE, RUEDA DE PRENSA completa hoy ATL\u00c9TICO 2 - LEVERKUSEN 1 | CHAMPIONS\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rjqAM2DpGw0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou see the ability to suffer and you see the interpretation of how to approach these encounters. And they did it perfectly. We won a game that the boys will remember \u2013 Do you remember that game we were one down and we turned it around with a man less? People will remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Growing and rising, that spirit is inflating the chests of the Atletico players, and the Leverkusen victory will stoke the furnaces at the Metropolitano. This season Los Colchoneros have now authored eight comebacks, this perhaps their finest. Defeat against Leganes last weekend, and their first half threatened to let the air out of a title challenge. As Los Rojiblancos tried to equal the number of players on the pitch, deliberately identifying which Leverkusen players had been booked, Rodrigo de Paul beamed while he wound up the opposition, laughing maniacally. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2024\/11\/27\/why-giuliano-simeone-is-behind-the-turnaround-at-atletico-madrid\">Giuliano\u2019s indomitable attitude, which helped spark their turnaround<\/a> in November, was defiant with every sprint. They were <i>enjoying <\/i>it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully we won\u2019t have to do it like this all the time,\u201d Simeone said only out of duty. It might not be good for his heart, but the response made Simeone as gooey as he gets. \u201cThe team in the second half was commendable. It was beautiful to watch, <i>thrilling<\/i>. The team interpreted every situation, every duel\u2026 It was much more than a comeback. There is more to it. There is a team that played with intelligence, courage, that knew how to choose the moments and look for those details that win you games.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1290\" height=\"768\" class=\"wp-image-288213 has-webp lazyload\" style=\"height:auto;max-width: 1290px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez\" data-src=\"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Giuliano-Julian-Alvarez.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez: Difference-makers this season. Image via Atletimania.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On the other end of the result was gentleman genius Xabi Alonso. The cool figure that has dismantled Bayern Munich and many more attended his post-match interview with stew of disdain and resignation. Few have faced as many of the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century\u2019s dynasties as Alonso, but in the face of this Atletico, futility glazed his words.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe key moment was the 1-1. It changed the emotional moment for Atleti and that had a huge impact on us. The game opened up, we were no longer able to read the game. Until the draw we had played a very solid game. We were not able to take it the game where we wanted, they are very good at that, taking it to their terrain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to manage your energy, your reading of the game, and know how to react when you are overwhelmed\u201d \u2013 a perfect description of what Simeone\u2019s side did do.<\/p>\n<p>If their<a href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2025\/01\/21\/atletico-madrid-fight-back-champions-league-victory-leverkusen\"> comeback over Leverkusen was Atletico\u2019s most impressive<\/a>, perhaps the most important epics were both away from home against Paris Saint-Germain (2-1 in November) and Barcelona in December (2-1 in December). In those games, the stakes were higher, and the opposition hungry for blood \u2013 a footballing siege, Atletico manned the barracks and defended the gate. Through the exhaustion and adversity, Atletico retained the clarity and intelligence to strike in the final seconds against the odds. Across the three games against PSG, Barcelona and Leverkusen, Atletico averaged 32% possession and scored 6 goals from 9 shots on target, and a total expected goals of 2.53. They were outshot 54 times to 14. Precisely that ability to remain in tact, to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2024\/12\/24\/column-more-than-luck-the-fine-margins-of-la-ligas-title-fight\">sharp of mind regardless of circumstance is what suggests a shift in this Atletico Madrid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"ca\" dir=\"ltr\">Ocho remontadas del Atl\u00e9tico en esta temporada:<br \/>2-1 Leipzig<br \/>3-1 Legan\u00e9s<br \/>1-2 PSG<br \/>2-1 Alav\u00e9s<br \/>1-3 Cacere\u00f1o<br \/>4-3 Sevilla<br \/>1-2 Bar\u00e7a<br \/>2-1 Leverkusen<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pedro Martin (@pedritonumeros) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pedritonumeros\/status\/1881825382674149564?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This is not to say that Atletico have returned to their former glories stylistically, nor in terms of weapons and strategy. Certainly compared to their most recent title win, Atletico play more entertaining football and with better footballers. Seeing Simeone\u2019s reaction though, feeling his words and his admiration for his own players, in terms of character, this is as \u2018Cholista\u2019 as has been seen in some time. Reminded of their own robust character by their wins against PSG and Barcelona, Atletico relished the toil. Up against another behemoth, they\u2019ll add this experience to reinforce an iron belief.<\/p>\n<p>Under Simeone, Atletico may have had better squads still, and this season may end up less successful than others, but this group feels closer to Simeone in personality. One that \u201cbelieves, works, searches, perseveres and perseveres again.\u201d Regardless of what money or talent arrives at the Metropolitano, any club, manager or person will logically be more comfortable with an attitude and an approach in communion with the narrative they have of themselves. In recent seasons, it looked as if the club\u2019s recruitment was diverging from Simeone\u2019s true desires. Now, Cholismo threatens an uprising again.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2025\/01\/25\/atletico-madrid-leverkusen-simeone\">Analysis: \u201cMuch more than just a comeback\u201d \u2013 The uprising at Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone\u2019s eyes<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\">Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you had to choose, you\u2019d probably categorise Diego Simeone as more of canine figure than feline, but there was no mistake on Tuesday night \u2013 he was purring about his football team. Atletico Madrid went a man down after just 25 minutes to a smooth and sophisticated Bayer Leverkusen side, and in first half [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plasmascreenart.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}