A surprisingly free-flowing Atletico team must conquer the Gunners to reach their third Champions League final in 14 years under the Argentinian
Just a decade ago, Diego Simeone was standing on the touchline at the San Siro and watched his Atletico Madrid side lose on penalties to Real Madrid. It was close. Yannick Carrasco’s 79th-minute equaliser had cancelled out Sergio Ramos’s early first-half opener to send the tie to spot-kicks, before Juanfran hit the post in Atleti’s fourth penalty, allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to grab the win.
It hurt. Badly. Not least because Atletico had also fallen short just two years before. Having scored 31 minutes into the 2014 final and led for an hour, Atletico were undone by Ramos’s equaliser in added time. Which opened a deluge and Madrid scored three more goals in extra time to turn the tight contest into a slaughter.
Those two nights have arguably been among the greatest points of Simeone’s 14-year stay at Atletico, no matter how painfully they ended.
Ten years later there is a chance to reach a final again. “You can’t imagine how good it is to be in the four best teams in Europe,” Simeone said after his side set up a last-four encounter with Arsenal. If Atleti reach the final they will have to face one of two heavyweights of European football in Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, both sides top shelf at the moment, as witnessed at Tuesday night’s instant classic.
Let’s go 🫡 Full of excitement ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/DDX2wElczr
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) April 29, 2026
But first there is a test against the Premier League’s hot-and-cold team, a double header that has been billed as an ugly affair, a contest of two teams wedded to defensive non-football, peak haram-ball event. Except that is not quite the case, at least not where Atletico are concerned.
In the Champions League this season, only PSG and Bayern have in fact scored more goals than Atletico’s 34. And few teams have been more open: Atletico have kept only one clean sheet in this competition this season, and of the four sides still left in the tournament, none have had their goalkeeper called into action more than Atletico’s 56 times.
Indeed, not one of their last 36 Champions League games have ended goalless, producing instead an average of nearly four goals per game.
In his time at the club Simeone has understandably forged a reputation as a master of the low block, defensive specialist, ruthless game killer. But while he still demands hard running from his players and the more than occasional delaying tactic, this side have actually evolved into a more open, creative side.
Antoine Griezmann, “a genius” according to Simeone, is still a slick footballer with delicious touches. Marcos Llorente, the midfield powerhouse who runs with the lungs of four men, exudes creativity. Julian Alvarez is Julian Alvarez, lusted after by Barcelona to grace their attack but tantalisingly out of reach. Ademola Lookman has added flair on the left flank.
The sight of Atleti’s forward players weaving passes together is a beautiful thing. Take the 4-0 smashing of Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final, where Lookman, Griezmann, Alvarez and Giuliano Simeone combined to dismantle Hansi Flick’s side in the first half, or indeed the hammering of Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
In one of their beautiful moves, Griezmann initiated a counterattack when his deftest of touches released Alvarez, who then used a superb first touch to take it beyond the Spurs defenders and charge towards goal. It led to a goal.
Alex ➡️ Álex ➡️ Alex 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/1eWP8PQIy1
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) April 28, 2026
Sometimes they have suffered for it: such as Barcelona nearly pulling off a monumental comeback when they won 3-0 at Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg, Flick’s side again scoring two goals in 24 minutes to threaten a comeback in the Champions League semi-final second leg, or indeed even Arsenal smashing them 4-0 in a bruising second half during the league phase in October.
Simeone turned 56 on Tuesday. Nearly twenty of those years have been spent at Atletico, either playing on the pitch or standing on the sidelines in his favoured dark suit, like an Italian mafia anxiously awaiting a precious delivery. As a captain he won the double in 1996. Then as a coach he won La Liga twice in 2014 and 2021, winning also the Copa del Rey in 2013 and the Europa League in 2012 and 2018.
This season Atletico had promise of a double but fell short painfully, again on penalties, in the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad. But now there’s a chance for the Argentinian boss to crown his 14-year stay at the club with the biggest prize.
Both times Atleti reached the final in 2014 and 2016, they beat Barcelona in the knockout stages before failing in Lisbon and Milan against their flying neighbours. This season they also defeated the Catalans in the quarter-finals, winning 2-0 in the first leg before holding on and going through despite losing 2-1 at the Metropolitano.
“I’ve been here 14 years and never stop feeling emotional,” Simeone said after that game. “I told the players: thank you, thank you, thank you. For the things we do, the faith we have.”
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) April 29, 2026
There are players who will feature prominently in the story. Griezmann is counting on one big hurrah before leaving the club he has largely played for in the past 12 years and heading stateside to join Major League Soccer side Orlando City SC. He has largely missed their successes over the past decade, arriving just the summer after they won La Liga in 2014 and joining Barcelona before the season they won La Liga in 2021.
“Let’s hope God and destiny give him what he’s looking for in his time left with us,” his manager said. There is, of course, also Giuliano, who will be hoping to win European football’s biggest trophy with his dad as his coach and his idol Griezmann as his teammate.
Simeone’s team are far from lucky. They have fought their way to this stage – and victory, in this pre-final, and hopefully for them in Budapest, would be deserved.
