#5 Third time lucky for Atletico?
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In the last three seasons, Atleti reached two Champions League finals, only to lose out to their city rivals Real on both occasions. Once again, their progress to the semifinal has been smooth and serene but Diego Simeone knows that this season, it is time to make that step up and become champions of Europe.
The Atleti template for success has not changed at all. It is built on having a solid defense that barely gives away goals, and then using the pace of Carrasco and Griezmann on the break. It sounds fairly simple, but to do it as well as Atletico do it, takes an immense amount of skill and concentration.
Real are still there, after a contentious win over Bayern Munich, put them through to the semifinal. But, for Atletico at the stage they are, they will not fear any team left in the competition. They know their strengths and will play to those.
They will respect whoever the opposition is, no doubt, but Simeone has always stressed that his side are never over-awed by any occasion. Can they break the hoodoo and raise Simeone’s stock as a manager even further?
