Atlético 2 – Chelsea 2: Aguero Is Baaack!

By: Al | November 3rd, 2009

aguerofree …and who the hell knew that he could score free kicks?

We’re dumped out of the Champions League, but at the same time, have plenty to look forward to, and a performance to applaud. The team that played today was one that was absent all season and played with all their might. Chelsea was Chelsea, and Drogba was a beast as usual, but our response to them was Kun Aguero, who had one of his best matches in a long time. He only even played for 35 minutes!

It was a draw, but it was still good.

Atletico Madrid 2 – Chelsea 2:

1-0 65′ Aguero
1-1 82′ Drogba
1-2 88′ Drogba
2-2 90′ Aguero

The match

For the neutral, the first half was boring because of the lack of goals, but from the Atletico Madrid fan’s perspective, it was a breath of fresh air to see the team have superior possession and go toe-to-toe with Chelsea. With those 82 minutes of not conceding a goal, the defense was having one of its best matches ever. Good possession and solid tackles (especially Pablo) was something that the team hadn’t remembered how to do. Antonio Lopez made up for his shabby performances in the past, and he was one to thank for the first goal, because of his deflected shot. It truly was a shame to concede those two goals late into the match.

In the midfield, Assuncao was the same klutz as usual getting yellowed but still did well in his d-mid role. Cleber also did well moving the ball up and helping the attack. Reyes had a solid match as well and he had a terrific curling shot in the first half that looked like it was going in. Simao was the same player as usual, doing his part with crosses and helping the attack. Shame that Forlan didn’t have better luck scoring, and Sinama was getting owned all the time by the defense. It wasn’t until Kun Aguero came in that the attack finally found some flavor.

Drogba’s brace really was unfortunate. It was a shame that Drogba was able to jump a foot higher than any of our defenders, and Asenjo was unlucky to rebound the ball in front of Drogba to give him an easy tap-in. It felt like all the work during the entire match was all for nothing when Chelsea was a goal up.

Then Aguero scored the free kick. Completely unexpected but fitting, because we didn’t deserve to lose. Atleti played like a real team for most of the match, and we can say goodbye to the Champions League with dignity.

In many ways, we “won”. We won Pablo and Reyes’ confidence back from their good showing today. We also won the old Kun Aguero back, and a sense of team unity that is leaps and bounds better than the earlier parts of the season. From this point on, it feels like things will get better.

What now?

Europa League, that’s what. It is a more deserving place for the team at the moment, and is a trophy that will be possible to win. Just imagine Atletico using this match as the needed turning point. With a performance like today’s (minus conceding two) I am convinced that the team can go far into the Europa. All that’s needed is to secure a win or two, the next matchday hosting Porto and the following one away to APOEL. So at the moment, it’s Atletico vs APOEL contending for third place.

I’m not going to lie, I’m not too disappointed with third place. Could I honestly say that Atletico would go really far into the Champions League after what we’ve seen this season? It’s time for a more realistic trophy, one that we let slip away two years ago and one that we are more than capable now than ever to win.

The boys are making the effort and for that, we must appreciate it.