A ‘Rhino’ Cup for Real. Matarazzo was a Christmas gift, because his appearance in Donosti corresponds to the last days of last December, when, after much worse results than the prepared squad seemed to suggest, the txuri-urdin club surprisingly opted (things as they are) for an American coach who had a career in Germany. The rest is history and takes shape in the fourth KO title, the one that an entire province celebrates while the guy smiles from his almost two meters. Two penalties saved by Marrero, to Sorloth and Julián no less, for Pablo Marín to certify the decisive one.
And, as every coin also has tails, it is advisable to pay attention to Atlético. That it was more heart than legs, definitely harmed by that nonsense that is the calendar, but that fell into good contention to increase the number of years without touching hair in a competition with which the fans have always been much more infatuated than the club itself. There are still curves ahead in the red and white season, yes, because, having wiped away any tears, it will be time to attend to the new challenge that, in the form of the Champions League semi-final, football will pose to the troops in about two weeks. A final lost, a final to be won…
You can already imagine a thousand possibilities before playing that surely none of them will happen due to a change in the score before 15 seconds, just what happened in La Cartuja. Real took it back, Marrero put it long diagonally, Guedes served from the left, Barrenetxea headed into the cage. Atlético had not touched the ball, they were already behind on the scoreboard. The description of the play, in any case, must necessarily go through a chain of red and white errors: Molina measuring horribly, Giuliano eating the ball, Ruggeri marking with his eyes, Musso shooting late and poorly.
The worst thing that could happen to a team short of gas, it cannot be stressed enough, is that the first extra effort arrived so soon. Because Atlético did not react badly, always looking for Lookman on the left, until after getting lost in a few the Nigerian found himself from the front, with Caleta-Car resigning from the play that meant the tie, but it was as if the red and white legs stayed there. Restoring the balance and disappearing from the game was all one.
From the benches they had opted for prudence, a suffocating season, recently recovered footballers, so Hancko, Cardoso and Barrios were left out of the local eleven, Pubill for Lenglet was the only novelty compared to the Champions League, so Gorrotxategi did the same for the visitor, Sucic on the grass. The second felt much better than the first, with a firm Real that immediately took the ball again and did not return it until the intermission. Guedes and Soler had it, blocked respectively by Pubill and Molina, but Atlético’s defense showed too many holes, especially on Ruggeri’s side.
And in that sense the first act was capicua, ending the same as it had begun: with a goal from Real. A distant and overhand foul led to an absurd exit by Musso to definitively spoil the immaculate Cup that he had drawn: a penalty taking Guedes ahead, a goal from Oyarzabal so that his team once again showed an advantage just before the intermission. Deserved, surely, but completely unexpected due to the moment and the circumstances. The red and white night was definitely going wrong, with too many guys without even having presented credentials.
Simeone did not make the changes there that he surely would have made in another match. In fact, he went until game time without any movement, with his team dominating in an innocuous way, just another Lookman the first time Llorente was able to break lines, until he finally pulled Nico and Sorloth, first, and Baena and Almada, later. Atlético found what they needed there, with Real armed behind, perhaps too much, causing a bombardment of lateral balls that Marrero blocked for the moment while smoking a cigar.
In fact, Matarazzo also refreshed his people, who seemed to live even comfortably, but who were harmed by the disappearance of Guedes and Oyarzabal. And, suddenly, Julián. To catch a short service from Almada on the front, to smash it into the cage, so that the dispute would lead to a downhill finale towards the blue and white goal. Baena (offside), Sorloth, Cardoso and Llorente had them, successively, but then it was no. So extra time, just in case. There Oskarsson ran into Musso and Julián with the wood. The rest was a repetition of history: Real champion in the shootout. Matarazzo txapeldun…
