Who's afraid of the big, bad Bayern?

It’s been a while since Atlético rediscovered the sweet taste of great European nights. And nobody is remotely surprised that they beat all-comers at the Calderón on their way to the knock-out stages beyond the group stage, where they are now always expected. For some time now, these big European occasions at the Calderón have taken on a party atmosphere. A solemn one, but a party nonetheless. The ticket holder arrives nervously, but deep inside he or she knows that everything will be all right. And time and again, these European nights do end up all right, and the ticket holder goes home happy, along the banks of the Manzanares river, ready to have a bit of a brag about it all in the morning.

It is the same story whoever the opposition is. On Wednesday night it was Bayern, a continental behemoth. Merely reading out their starting 11 is imposing. The players the Germans are able to bring off the bench are even more so: Mats Hummels, Arjen Robben, Joshua Kimmich… but in the face of this European tyranny Atlético once again exercised the “Simeone equation,” which is so difficult to solve: we’ll wait for you, you can come and go but you won’t find a single crack in the wall. Sometimes you’ll make a mistake and we’ll nip up the other end and score. And then we’ll watch as you try to equalize. Faith, intensity and a little bit of football; just the right amount to punish the slightest mistake by the opposition.

That is Atlético and that is how Atlético played on Wednesday. That provided Jan Oblak with a relatively quiet game in which his solvency wasn’t put to the test. And it was enough to provide the platform for a great goal by Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and two shots against the woodwork, one of them from the penalty spot. It was sufficient to explain that Atlético won deservedly, that Carlo Ancelotti was unable once again to unpick the Simeone equation and above all to explain the state of joy that these European nights have assumed. The Calderón is witnessing a few final fixtures that will find their place among the greatest memories of the stadium.