The Vicente Calderon had fallen quiet for a moment and Diego Simeone wasn't having it: "I don't like peacefulness," he admitted later. It was late on Tuesday night and Atletico Madrid were 1-0 up against Real Sociedad with not long left, but that was no reason to relax. From the side of the pitch, Simeone started conducting once more, imploring the fans to put down their sandwiches and shout instead.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked. "Are you asleep? Support them! Come on, support them! You sound like Real Madrid!"

Ouch.

The supporters were stung. If there's one thing guaranteed to get a reaction, it's that; this accusation hurt. Atletico's identity has always been built on who they are, sure, but also on who they are not. And who they are not is Real Madrid. On the pitch and, just as importantly, off it; the two things go hand in hand. When Atletico celebrated their centenary in 2003, the anthem talked of suffering as something beautiful and t-shirts were produced with "Blessed fans" on the front. That seemed more appropriate than celebrating the team and, as for success, well, that was something that happened to other teams.

There has long been an assumption -- flawed, incomplete, sometimes simply wrong, but there nonetheless -- that Atletico fans are more real, somehow. Loud, loyal, and losing. That assumption existed on their side of the city, anyway (although, with a stadium move imminent it may not even be their side of the city for much longer). In 2000, Atletico season ticket sales increased when the club was relegated for the first time in history. The same would never happen at the Bernabeu, it was said.

That was unfair on many Real Madrid supporters who, quite justifiably, think they have lost the propaganda war, but at least they had the consolation of winning the real war. You know, the one with trophies and that.

On Tuesday night, Simone was essentially offering up the same idea as the one expressed by Fernando Torres, the only person who can challenge the Atletico manager as a Calderon icon. "The Kid" learnt the lesson young; Torres had only been in the first team a year when he claimed Real Madrid fans don't really feel their football. Go to the Bernabeu, he suggested, and it's like going to the theatre. Go to the Bernabeu, he might have added, and you're going to lose. Which was maybe part of Atletico's charm.

Things have changed, though. Up to a point. It has been said so often that it can feel redundant, but still it bears repeating: Atletico is a club transformed. Simeone was the revolution and the resurrection in one. It is hard, looking back, to express just what a mess the place was and how complete was the complex, before he arrived in 2011. But two years later, after 14 years and 25 matches without a single derby win, they became Copa del Rey winners -- against Madrid, at the Bernabeu -- and followed that up the next season by being crowned league champions.

Atletico also reached the Champions League final twice in three years, where ... Oh. That. In Europe, Real Madrid still exercise a hold over them, the jinx still gripping tightly. The pain may never go away; it would take something pretty special to exorcise the ghosts of Lisbon and Milan. After last year's penalty shootout loss, Simeone was sunk; he later likened the weeks that followed to a period of mourning.

Still, it's quite something to have got there at all and quite something to be in a position where Atletico really do believe that they can get there again this season, having reached the quarterfinals for a fourth straight year. It is also quite something that only one team has knocked them out of Europe during that run. It's just a pity that team is Real Madrid.

The neighbours meet in La Liga on Saturday and it is quite something that this has become the best local derby in the world when, for some time, it was barely a derby at all. It is quite something that, ahead of the game, Antoine Griezmann could meet Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron, stars of Fast & Furious 867 or whatever they're up to now, and say: "I feel like we're favourites."

Foolish, perhaps, but fair enough. Why not? Forget Europe for a minute -- yeah, as if! -- Atletico have won their last three league visits to the Bernabeu: 1-0, 2-1, 1-0. Under Simeone, they have won there more times than they have lost. Simeone played the record down on Thursday by referencing the draw at Barcelona that clinched the league as his proudest moment, but the run has been a good one and there is something special about Madrid. Few games delighted Atletico fans like the 4-0 destruction of their greatest rivals two years ago.

Atletico have won five league games in a row and moved above Sevilla into third; it feels like they are finding themselves again. Like last year, they have evolved one way and back again, returning to what they know. The solidity they appeared to have lost has been rediscovered and the old guard -- Gabi, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis, even Juanfran -- are at the heart of the team again.

The debate about how they played and how attacking they are, which seemed to always hang on one single question -- is Koke in the middle of midfield or to the side? -- appears to have been overcome, if momentarily. Atletico were never only defensive, never simply solid, the most backhanded of compliments, but they were those things. Then they weren't. Now they are again.

The defence is Atletico again and, while Kevin Gameiro is not fit and neither Nicolas Gaitan nor Angel Correa have taken that final step, Torres has responded for the time being. Yannick Carrasco, wide right, has also impressed. And then there's Griezmann. Behind the forwards, it now feels like the midfield is settled too, more recognisable.

Earlier in the season, Simeone claimed -- not entirely convincingly -- that his aim has always been to bring Koke into the middle of the team and that, in fact, the process was long underway. The manager didn't much appreciate it when Gabi, the man he says he can "understand with just a look," suggested that, with Koke in the centre, Atletico gained in creativity but became more vulnerable. Yet Simeone recognised and shared the diagnosis. And so now Koke's position is interior again -- on the left this time, narrow, able to come inside and leave the wing for Filipe Luis -- and he is better for it.

The central role has been problematic, with Augusto Fernandez suffering a long-term injury and Tiago unable to recover fully, Thomas Partey yet to really prove himself or enjoy continuity and the experiment of Jose Gimenez proving inconclusive.

The position is now reserved for Saul Niguez. Here's another player, like Koke, who previously occupied a role to the side of midfield that didn't entirely suit him, but one that might not always have been an automatic option alongside Gabi. It has worked. In the last three games Saul has recovered possession more than 30 times; his tactical discipline has stood out, with Koke benefitting.

"I always said Saul had all the qualities to be a great midfielder," Simeone says. "He works, he strikes the ball well, he's good in the air, he can control the pace of the game, he can pass. It's all about his willingness to improve in that position."

Simeone says, quite rightly, that it is Real Madrid who are on course to win the league. Saturday's hosts keep winning, even if they don't always convince. They, not Atletico, appear unstoppable from set plays; no one has scored more from corners, free kicks or headers than Real. Whenever there is a big game, they seem to respond. Somehow, somewhere, they find a solution, even if it is Sergio Ramos in Sergio Ramos time. Comebacks have come and gone and come back again.

This title is likely to be theirs and will be defined not so much by their team as their squad. Madrid's strength in depth is astonishing, the variety vast, injuries incapable of derailing them. Of all their outfield players, only Fabio Coentrao, who barely plays and so doesn't really count, has not scored this season.

In midweek, Zinedine Zidane played just four "starters" and, in winning 4-2 at Leganes, they impressed even as they again revealed a vulnerability that is undeniable but curiously not decisive. Alvaro Morata scored a hat trick, while James Rodriguez aldo netted and Marco Asensio produced a wonderful assist. None of them will start on derby day.

Isco may not either, even though Simeone said he would, as that would "allow them more possession than with Casemiro." Wishful thinking? Perhaps. An attempt to condition Zidane's thoughts? Maybe. A desire to see Casemiro removed from Atletico players' path? Who knows? A reflection of available resources? For sure.

In the end, the Madrid line-up looks likely to be the one that started in Milan last May; another reminder, as if Atletico needed it, of the one barrier they have yet to overcome. Much has changed in recent years and this match is becoming one of the best there is anywhere in the world, but Real Madrid are Real Madrid. And no one knows that better than Atletico. 

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by SID LOWE

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