Saul lights up the Calderon to leave Pep on verge of failure
Ryan giggs, Ricky Villa, hell, even Diego Maradona — there is something very special about a dribbled goal. it is one of the last displays of pure individualism in a game that is increasingly dominated by percentages, team work, transitions and statistical analysis. it contains elements of showmanship, ego, self — all personality traits that must now be sacrificed to the whole. so when saul niguez took out close to half of the Bayern Munich team on his way to winning this Champions League semi-final, it was a moment to take the roof off atletico Madrid’s mighty stadium, if the dear old Vicente Calderon had one, on three of its four sides.
saul scored arguably the goal of the tournament on 11 minutes here, and Bayern Munich could not recover. as a result, Pep Guardiola now has 90 minutes to avoid being something he has never been in his life: a nearly man. This is his third Champions League campaign with Bayern Munich and the first two have ended at the semi-final stage. now he must turn around a 1-0 deficit against one of the most cussed, yet gifted, teams in europe if he is to progress to the final in Milan.
it will not be easy. atletico are incredibly resilient, yet saul’s goal showed they are capable of exquisite excellence, too. it would have deserved to win any match, but this was a fitting occasion.
Before the game, saul had declared Munich the best team left in the competition. With atletico’s city rivals Real Madrid also among the last four, he may just have been pleasing the faithful, but if he was earnest, maybe it was admiration that inspired such a wondrous solo effort.
it came after saul had already tried his range from 30 yards just four minutes in, an ambitious attempt that was easily snaffled by Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel neuer.
his next try, though, was markedly different — a thing of beauty that lifted the locals to new levels of joy and abandon. They have waited 42 years for their revenge on Munich, victors when the clubs met in the 1974 european Cup final. atletico were seconds from winning that night, until Munich equalised and then won the replay — remember them — 4-0. nobody would say saul’s goal made up for that; but it went a fair way.
it would almost be easier to name the Munich players he did not skip past or outwit on his way towards the penalty area. But the list of the vanquished begins with Guardiola’s favourite Thiago alcantara, continues through a slalom move that defeated Juan Bernat and Xabi alonso, before ending with the surge that took him past David alaba, before defeating neuer with the shot.
NOT every challenge was of the required standard for a Champions League semi-final, mind you, but the route still took some negotiating and saul’s balance and intent were quite perfect. so was his finish, a low curler that eluded neuer, settling in at the far post.
atletico had every reason to be confident in their current form and having eliminated Barcelona in the previous round, but this seemed to better all expectations. The steep arena erupted in a riot of red and white celebration. Just as a footnote, saul is still waiting for his first cap for spain. in england, meanwhile, we are driving the manager mad to pick Marcus Rashford, who nobody knew existed before February.
atletico could have gone further ahead in the 30th minute when antoine Griezmann — a target for Chelsea although why he would wish to leave this team for one
that will not even play in Europe next season is a mystery — looked to have broken free of the German defence. Javi Martinez did just enough to rattle the Frenchman as he shaped to shoot, Neuer pulling off a save at the near post.
A late breakaway aside, much of the rest belonged to Munich, but Madrid were not lucky. This was a masterclass in absorbing pressure featuring the standard exemplary performances from players we have seen in our Premier League, and declared useless — in this case Filipe Luis, formerly of Chelsea, and Stefan Savic, a centre half receiving limited opportunities at Manchester City.
Up front, Fernando Torres looked nothing like the lost soul who could barely buy a goal at Stamford Bridge. Arguably man of the match, however, was Augusto Fernandez, a January transfer window signing from Celta Vigo who outshone his South American counterpart Arturo Vidal, for Munich.
Fernandez was everywhere, although mostly behind the ball, organising, shielding, blocking. He is the essence of what Simeone has brought to this team.
And it is Simeone’s team, as much as any team belongs to its coach. Rarely has a group of players been fashioned so successfully to a manager’s will and personality. They are his reflection, obsessively hard-working, tigerish, always in motion. This was a magnificent defensive display, yet could have ended in a 2-0 win had Torres not hit a post with a devastatingly swift counter-attack in the 75th minute.
It is a testament to Atletico’s organisation that Munich couldn’t get behind them and their best chance came from extraordinary range — Alaba 35 yards out when he struck a spectacular shot that had goalkeeper Jan Oblak beaten, only to thunder against the crossbar. A header from Martinez forced a good save soon after, and Douglas Costs should have done better with an attempted lob that looked closer than it was due to the spring in the roof of the net.
On the touchline, Guardiola went through agonies. The players he named as substitutes — Franck Ribery, Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller among them — had actually scored more goals in the Champions League this season than Atletico, but for all their collective effort Munich could not find a way through. Simeone, the scourge of tiki
taka, continued to circle his wagons as Munich pressed. He did not introduce loose balls into the proceedings as a delaying tactic — the dark art that earned him a three-game ban in La Liga, announced yesterday — but he did stand as close to the pitch’s perimeter as any linesman, at one time having to scuttle clear to avoid becoming embroiled in play. He is involved, though, perhaps more than any coach in the modern game.
If Guardiola just had Atletico Madrid to beat he might feel confident of overturning a single goal at home — but this is Simeone’s Atletico and Guardiola will know his task is therefore enormous.