September was an up and down month for Atlético given the high standard we have been accustomed to under Diego Simeone, but there were still plenty of moments to savour for the Rojiblanco faithful. Arda Turan’s wonderful winner in the Bernabéu was no doubt the highlight, although it didn’t prove enough for him to take
Believe, for this is real. Atlético Madrid are the crowned champions of Spain, having toppled super-powers Real Madrid and Barcelona over the course of a 38-game season. With the mantra of “one match at a time”, Diego Simeone’s men have achieved the unimaginable.
Atlético put together a hairy-chested, stomp-your-foot-on-the-ground-and-punch-a-Madridista-in-the-face comeback performance in Bilbao on Saturday to earn their fifth straight league win. Stunned by an unexpected Athletic goal in the sixth minute — the first goal they had conceded in five La Liga matches — Diego Simeone’s hombres recovered quickly and went on to conquer the new San Mamés for the second time this season.
While the rest of the universe was focussed on El Clásico, Atlético had their sights set on first place. Atleti supporters suffered through the endless Barcelona and Real Madrid fodder all week long, but, in the end, they were rewarded handsomely.
15 home games into the present La Liga campaign, and Atlético remain unvanquished at the Vicente Calderón. Espanyol, the latest visitors to ‘Cholo Castle’, certainly put up a fight, but los Rojiblancos were able to gut out the result for their third straight triumph in all competitions.
After over an hour of mostly dispirited play by Atlético in Vigo, the men in and red and white sparked back to life to abruptly terminate their foes 2-0. The game against Celta started off eerily similar to Atleti’s previous two trips in league play–the squad looked all too comfortable letting their opponents dictate play while hardly offering much of a threat in attack of their own.
Atlético were unable to hold onto victory after a spirited comeback effort against Real Madrid that had all the electricity of a heavyweight prize fight. Los Rojiblancos went down first and quickly on Sunday, but sprung back up to deliver a pair of mighty blows of their own. Atleti had their archrivals’ backs firmly pressed against the ropes, but let them evade the fatal blow and salvage a point with a late equaliser.
So much for a crisis. It took all of four minutes on Saturday for Atlético to puncture a pair of mortal wounds into Valladolid at the Vicente Calderón. Los Rojiblancos then sat back and watched as their opponents bled out for most of the evening before delivering the final death blow–thereby snapping an ugly streak of three goalless losses.
In one of the most enchanting nights at the Vicente Calderón in recent memory, Atlético soared to the top of the league table for the first time in 18 years by handily defeating Real Sociedad 4-0. Los Colchoneros honoured the glory days of their past by paying tribute to a fallen idol who fully embodied the spirit of the club’s halcyon days.
Atlético grinded out a narrow 1-0 road victory over Málaga on Saturday to briefly take over the top spot in La Liga. For a while, it appeared as if recent history would repeat itself. Los Rojiblancos’ previous two visits to La Rosaleda had both ended in scoreless draws, so when the 70th minute mark was