Brand new day for Atlético as Julián Alvarez tees up derby with dramatic rescue | Sid Lowe

<p>Atlético Madrid needed their own superhero in the win over Rayo, but next comes a derby they cannot lose</p><p>“Football is fantastic,” Diego Simeone said, which he could say by then. All night he had watched Marcos Llorente fly up the wing; for the last half an hour he had watched his son do so too, all clenched jaw and bulging veins, stuck on fast forward, a determination so intense it looked as if he might explode. Now it was the turn of the Atlético Madrid manager, who had literally been on his knees for much of the night, to sprint up the touchline in his black suit and shiny shoes, screaming and let loose again. Simeone had been here before, a week earlier, when he had admitted that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/sep/15/diego-simeone-relief-atletico-win-doubts-evolution-la-liga">Atlético’s victory had brought relief</a> not joy. This was even wilder: five goals, four of them belters, and 54,098 people losing their heads.</p><p>Simeone especially. Six weeks into the season and for the sixth time Atlético had scored first; for the fifth time, though, they weren’t going to win. Worse, this time the team that had drawn with Elche, Alavés and Mallorca and been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/aug/17/european-football-vitinha-earns-opening-day-victory-for-ligue-1-champions-psg-at-nantes">beaten by Espanyol</a> were going to lose, and just in time for the derby to decide their fate, Real Madrid turning up in two days to do what they do: twist the knife, an entire season over before Atlético had even reached October. Madrid, with six wins from six already, could leave Atlético <em>15</em> points behind their rivals. Which was when it happened. “This sport is wonderful,” Simeone said after. “It is all gone, and then – well, sometimes – it gives you that happiness back. As always in football, in life, faith is the most important thing.” A superh