The Wanda Metropolitano is not the Calderón, the nostalgia lingers, and there is maybe even a sense of loss. But, wow, it’s certainly impressive
There was a glint in Diego Simeone’s eye as he pointed at his chest, mouthed “me” and turned. Right-footed, he struck the ball into the back of the net, not far from the near post. It was Friday evening north east of the capital, the final rehearsal before their grand opening night and one big question had been resolved already. Well, sort of. Some 68,000 seats sat empty, yet to be broken in, and the tap-tap of training was the only sound still, real noise put on hold for 24 hours, but the first goal at Atlético Madrid’s new home had been scored by the captain of their double-winning side and manager of the team moving in.
“The most important thing is the three points,” Simeone said soon after, but that grin underlined that he knew better than anyone that really wasn’t true. “You try to focus on work but it’s not easy: we’re all human,” he admitted the following night. “When you get to the stadium, however much you tell yourself ‘don’t look, don’t feel, don’t watch, don’t gaze around’, you do it.” Everyone did – from the moment they arrived on Saturday morning. This, wrote Atlético-supporting Patricia Cazón, “was one of those days that’s historic just because the sun comes up.” After 50 years at the Vicente Calderón, Atlético had a new stadium. “Your dream home,” Marca called it.
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There’s a little of the modern stadium thing: broad passageways, ample aisles, space between seats, too comfortable?
It’s not just a league title. What these lads transmit to you is something much more important than that: if you believe and you work, you can do it” – Diego Pablo Simeone.
You are Atlético Madrid and there are 50,000 people out there who will die for you. For them, for the shirt, for your pride, you have to go out there and express on the field that there is only one champion and he’s in red and white” – Luis Aragonés.
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