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You've never seen a coach like this: Simeone's celebration vs Real Madrid

Atlético Madrid beat Los Merengues 4-2 and advanced in the Copa del Rey.

By Darwin Largo

Simeone was very happy.

Once again, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid put on a great show. In history, every time they faced each other in the knock-out stages of a single match tournament, they had to go to extra time or penalty shoot-out to decide the winner. The most remembered examples are the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals won by Los Merengues, and the last case had been last week's 5-3 win in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup.

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This Thursday Los Colchoneros had the opportunity to avenge that elimination. For the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, they were playing at the Civitas Metropolitano stadium and had the support of their fans. And that was noticeable, as at several moments of the match the players and the team's coach urged the fans to sing and cheer.

The opener came 31 minutes into the first half, when Samuel Lino received the ball inside the box and netted. But before the break Jan Oblak made an absurd mistake that allowed the visitors to score the leveller. At the beginning of the second half the other goalkeeper, Andriy Lunin, returned the favor and Alvaro Morata netted the second goal of Atlético Madrid, but Joselu again tied the score.

In extra time came the best. Antoine Griezmann scored a beautiful goal, dribbling past an opposing defender and shooting powerfully with his left foot. And near the final whistle, Memphis Depay assisted Rodrigo Riquelme to make it 4-2. This brought relief to Los Colchoneros, who were finally able to celebrate. One of the most euphoric was boss Diego Simeone, who first hugged his assistants and then ran several yards to cross the field and celebrate with the players.

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What's next?

The draw for the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey will be made this Friday. The eight qualified teams are Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Real Mallorca, Celta and Real Sociedad. The phase will be a single match and will be played next week at the stadiums of the four teams that come first in the draw.

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