Multichampions: Atletico wins in Liverpool
The coronavirus will get football to shut down for a while. Before that, it left us with a historic match between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. With an audience, with kisses, hugs, handshakes, shirtless fans... the health authorities were shaking when they saw Anfield. We will lament the consequences of ignorance, but Atleti is already in the quarterfinals.
Liverpool's all-out football did everything it had to do. 2-0 on the scoreboard and thinking about the quarter-finals. A goal in extra time. The extra time that Atletico Madrid has had since they set foot in Milan. In the previous 90 minutes, Simeone's team had played a video of Atletico Madrid beating Chelsea with a goal by Adrian. The one that beat Barça and left them out of Europe. The one with Cholo's signature and it's been a long time since he appeared.
A goalie. One who can play games. Invisible 89 minutes and crucial in the last minute. That Eighth Gridiron, from the World Cup Final. Better, the Anfield Oblak. The one who stopped everything while, at a distance, he watched Adrian cool off. The Sevillian goalkeeper signed his team's defeat. A free ball, a goal that gets away, a slow stretch... nuances that change a game. The future of Spain's goal at the European Championship is getting murkier. There are no guaranteed goalkeepers. But that' s another story.
Boards, styles, systems, tactics... it's all football. From Getafe de Bordalás to Inter de Mourinho through Barça de Guardiola. The complaint, the grievance, the excuse... it's all too much. Simeone stopped Liverpool from running at the Metropolitan and won. At Anfield he gave courage to the defence and pressed the team to be patient. And he won. To think of the opposition and to look for their weaknesses. Defending a Messi foul inside the area. Studying football is also football.
Marcos Llorente was out. Out of Real Madrid and out of Simeone's slate. Sold by Madrid and badly bought by Atletico. But when your coach is Simeone and he has noticed you, there is always another chance. Incompatible with Valverde in the white team, in Atlético he would be the key piece of Cholo. The containment midfielder vaccinated Liverpool with two goals of physical waste. Llorente has arrived. The saga continues.
Valencia is not for gestures. While the faults were suspended, almost a thousand people gathered at the gates of Mestalla to cheer on their team. They may be able to avoid the crowds inside, but people are as free as they are foolish to be outside. The empty stands are impressive. It tempers football. But the players started out on empty fields playing for themselves. It didn't matter about the crowd. Long ago, football was sold to televisions and the fans were forgotten.
Josip Ilicic is one of those who started playing football on empty fields in Slovenia. A stand without an audience is part of his development as a player. He arrived at Mestalla and found himself with two penalty kicks and an evicted opponent. Atalanta did what he knows how, scoring more goals than he fits in. It won't give him much to win, but for now he's already in the quarter-finals.
PSG came back to the Dortmund and broke the barrier of the eighths. The wealthy team has gone from having money to having football. Neymar scored the goal that makes him a decisive player again. The goal helps. Gone are the days of trying out unknown goalkeepers or the veteran Buffon. Navas brings order to Paris, stops and throws parties. From Neymar's school.
The Champions are without Mourinho. Football was left without the Portuguese coach years ago. Porto, Inter and Real Madrid got the best of him. They squeezed his script to the max. Always loved and always criticized. He took the reins of Tottenham so that he would not be left out of the market and would not be outdated. But he no longer has any ascendancy over the players. His strong hand no longer breaks dressing rooms and the players objected to his style.
The coronavirus leaves the Champions League without a short-term future. The competition is interested in continuing to play matches. That the grand final be held in Istanbul, that the Euro be held in the summer. That the money from sponsors and televisions continues to flow. The public is less interested. The months and matches could go by behind closed doors. There will always be someone in front of the television. The matches at seven o'clock in the evening show that TV is very important. Finals in Cardiff or Baku. Lost countries and unseated stadiums. Player protection is the only thing that could force football to be suspended, to play single-elimination matches on neutral fields... The future without football. Football without a future.
