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In the final few minutes before the derby day that was destined to be the best they ever had, Diego Simeone gathered his players and asked if they were OK. The pressure was intense, their need desperate, but of all the things that are truly important in your lives, he wanted to know, is there anything thatâ€s not right? Does anyone have any problems?

“All of them said ‘noâ€,†Atlético Madridâ€s manager admitted later, when the Metropolitano had finally fallen silent, the singing drifting in from down Avenida de Luis Aragonés instead. “So I said: ‘then play, have fun. Youâ€re good. Enjoy yourselves. A footballerâ€s life passes quickly, make the most of it; these games donâ€t come back.â€â€

And sometimes they never go away. Saturdayâ€s left Real Madrid just wanting to get as far from there as they could, a plane handily waiting to take them 7,500km east the following day, and Atlético enjoying a moment that will be for ever. Asked what an astonishing 5-2 victory over Madrid meant, Simeone gave a two-word reply, offering only “three points†and a full stop, but if the players had bought his message before the game no one was buying it now. This meant more, the release so complete that when Julián Alvarez curled in a free-kick, Thibaut Courtois sent crashing past the post, over on the touchline the coachâ€s legs gave way and he started to cry. “Thereâ€s a lot of emotion in your body,†he said.

That was Atléticoâ€s fourth goal and they hadnâ€t even finished yet. In added time, Antoine Griezmann slipped a shot into the net, number 199 in red and white. This time, Simeone turned to the stands and blew kisses. Up in the directors†box, Madridâ€s president Florentino Pérez tapped at his phone with a single finger, launching a million memes. Around him, the Metropolitano sang: show those Vikings who rules the capital, the lyrics demand. History really had been made. Atlético hadnâ€t put this many past their neighbours in 75 years.

“An exhibition,†AS called it. “Fantastic,†El País said. “Historic,†ran the cover of Marca; this was “legendary†wrote Alfredo Relaño inside, while still managing to whine about a referee who got virtually everything right. It had been perfect for Atlético, in just about every way, even the bad bits good in the end, a resurrection second only to Koke. They had taken the lead, as they had in every game this season, and then lost it again, as they had in every game bar one. 1-0 up and 2-1 down, they made it 2-2 just before half-time, 3-2 just after it, then four. Now, a decade on from the last derby demolition, they had five. In Spain, they call it a little hand and it has a special significance, a goal for each finger: Robin Le Normand, Alex Sørloth, Alvarez, Alvarez again and Griezmann. Theirs formed a fist that crushed Madrid. “There are no excuses: the defeat was deserved, and it hurts,†Xabi Alonso said.

“There are no words that can console us,†Madridâ€s captain Dani Carvajal insisted, which didnâ€t stop him trying: “Maybe this beating will be good for us to see that not everything is the colour of roses.†Madrid had won six from six, a structure emerging, a system too. They arrived with an opportunity to eliminate their rivals from the race, Atléticoâ€s title challenge ended before September: win and Simeoneâ€s team would be 12 points behind already, which might have been part of the reason it didnâ€t happen. There was a shift too, Jude Bellinghamâ€s return seeing Franco Mastantuono left out and Arda Guler moved to the right in a move that felt early and like an accommodation. In the middle, no one took control, Fede Valverde looking lost in a system that reduces this ability to run, his late error a portrait of a player trying to find his place. “We didnâ€t compete,†Alonso admitted. “This is a building process, and within that process there will be hard days.â€

Days like this, which perhaps also hinted at a simpler reality for both of them. Madridâ€s wins had come against the sides currently sitting in 19th, 18th, 17th, 14th, 13th and seventh. And the team in seventh was Espanyol, who hadnâ€t won at the Bernabéu in 30 years. Now, they had been outplayed by the first truly strong team – and Atlético are a strong team, or should be, whatever the table says.

Diego Simeone hides his face after Atlético Madrid go 4-2 ahead of Real. Photograph: Diego Souto/Getty Images

What the table said was that Atlético had won just twice and it wasnâ€t as if they had played the best teams either: beaten at Espanyol, they had drawn with Elche, Alavés and Mallorca. Simeone, meanwhile, had said a lot about pressure and responsibility, victory bringing only relief where once there was happiness. The coach, in his 15thseason, had said a lot about efficiency too. Contundencia is the word, born of a blunt object: the ability to be decisive, definitive in both areas, to hit hard. Atlético hadnâ€t: in all six games they led, five times they let it slip. “Weâ€re the team that have created most chances,†Alvarez said, which wasnâ€t entirely true (theyâ€re fourth in shots, fifth in opportunities); what is true is that for every 10 shots they took, there was a goal and for every two they faced there was as well.

On Saturday it was happening again, or so it goes. A goal up through Le Normand, Atlético suddenly found themselves 2-1 down. Madrid had taken two shots and scored them both out of nowhere, flashes of vision from Guler first, to set up Kylian Mbappé, and Vinícius Júnior next, to set up Guler, looking set to leave Atlético 12 points behind. A moment later, Alvarez hit a post to floor them further, a sense of inevitability invited in, minds messed with. “Thatâ€s the hardest part,†Sørloth said. “But I could see in the eyes of my teammates that they believed today.â€

Faith, Simeone called it. A plan too, executed to perfection. “We were very clear about what we had to do,†the coach said and his team just kept coming: relentless, first to every ball, and so superior that Madrid couldnâ€t stop them. They ran and they fought and they played. Everywhere, Alonsoâ€s team were outdone. Ãlvaro Carreras couldnâ€t handle Giuliano Simeone; let alone Simeone, the extraordinary Pablo Barrios and Marcos Llorente together. On the other side Nico González, who Simeone Sr said has “Atlético DNAâ€, went at Carvajal. In the centre, Koke, 33, making his 42nd derby appearance and still the best midfielder they have, moved them all. “Magisterial,†Simeone called him. Over and over, the ball came, aimed at the Hit Man, Sørloth dunking on Dean Huijsen and Carreras. Behind him, space was swept for Alvarez to play, and boy can he play.

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From Kokeâ€s lovely delivery, Sørloth headed in the equaliser just before half-time – “he scored one, he could have three,†Simeone said – and a penalty for Alvarez just after the break put Atlético ahead. For Alvarez, this was especially significant. Six days earlier he had sat on the bench at Son Moix, withdrawn and angry, muttering words that if they werenâ€t “always meâ€, as the lip readers said, werenâ€t happy ones either. That day he had missed his first penalty, yet to score since the opening night; the last penalty he had taken against Madrid had been that one, taken from him. But, he said, “every penalty is a new momentâ€, and this time he beat Courtois.

Quick GuideLa Liga resultsShow

Atlético Madrid 5-2 Real Madrid, Barcelona 2-1 Real Sociedad, Elche 2-1 Celta Vigo, Getafe 1-1 Levante, Girona 0-0 Espanyol, Mallorca 1-0 Alavés, Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Sevilla, Real Betis 2-0 Osasuna, Villarreal 1-0 Athletic Bilbao

Monday Valencia v Real Oviedo (8pm BST)

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He did so again 12 minutes later. Standing over the ball just outside the area with González, he gave his countryman the shot only for González to give it back: “nah, you take it,†González said, so Alvarez lifted a free-kick over the wall and down again and into the net, leaving his coach left in tears, sobbing behind his hands. “I donâ€t know how he does it; he reminds me of [Milinko] Pantic,†Simeone said, saying much: such was Panticâ€s impact that before every game Margarita Luengo still lays a bunch of flowers by the corner flag in honour of the Serbian whose set plays led them to the double in 1996. “But what I most like in Julián,†Simeone said, “is the humility he has; a World Cup winner who comes to Atlético Madrid and runs and works every game.â€

They all had; now, at last, they had their reward. Alvarez had not got a goal since the opening night; now, scorer of a hat-trick to produce a dramatic comeback against Rayo 55 hours earlier, he had five in less than three days, life good again. It was done. There was just time for one more for the fun of it, the symbolism, Griezmann adding a little finger to complete a historic hand at the end of a derby day when all of them, 16 footballers and 69,167 fans, had done exactly what their manager asked. They had enjoyed themselves.

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