In the likely chance you didn’t watch the Europa League Final on Wednesday night, Atletico Madrid beat down Marseille in France to capture their third Europa League title. Following the match, defender Juanfran made a huge mistake mocking Real Madrid and their fans.
I don’t think there is anything funnier than seeing a player or team celebrate something and not realize the bigger picture of what has gone on around them. I was nearly in tears laughing when I saw the tweets and comments coming out of Lyon on Wednesday.
Los Blancos’ little brother, Atleti, won the Europa League for the third time in the last nine years. The celebrations from the Rojiblancos made it seem like they had just won the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, La Liga, and the 2018 World Cup all at once.
Fernando Torres won his first trophy in eleven years with the club. Yes really, eleven years. Antoine Griezmann won just his second trophy with Atletico since joining in 2014 and celebrated like it was the greatest triumph of his career.
However, the best celebration of them all came from the 33-year-old defender, Juanfran, who went to celebrate with the traveling fans behind the goal. Now, before I go into how the Spanish international mocked Real, let’s put some context into why this may be the biggest fail in European football this season.
Rewind to the 2016 Champions League Final in Milan. Real faced their crosstown rival and like the duel in the 2014 final, the match went to extra time. 30 minutes of extra time could not decide the tie as the match went into penalties.
As we all know, Real Madrid prevailed 5-3. Los Blancos went five for five from the spot, while Atleti went three for four. That one missed penalty came from, you guessed it, Juanfran, who hit the post.
The winning shot came from Cristiano Ronaldo the following penalty. Might I add, Juanfran was also underneath Sergio Ramos as the Real captain headed home the tying goal in the final second of the 2014 Final to send the match to extra time.
So, back to the present, Juanfran’s celebration.
After the full-time whistle, the defender cried a little bit, feeling that he had redeemed himself after botching that penalty. He ran to the Atleti section and led them in a chant taunting the 12-time European winners.
“Let the Vikings know who rules the capital.”
It seems like Juan Francisco Torres Belén is a bit forgetful. In order to help jog his memory, let’s look back at the history of Atleti vs. Real Madrid.
- Real lead the series against their rivals, winning 109 out of 219 matches.
- Real has beaten Atletico Madrid in the UCL the last three meetings (including two finals).
- Atleti has never won a Champions League title. Real has 12.
- Atleti has played in the Europa League seven times since 1999. Real hasn’t played in the competition since the 1994/1995 season.
- Atletico drew with Qarabag FK, a side from Azerbaijan, twice in the group stage. Qarabag lost the four other matches in the group stage.
Next: Real Madrid struggling to get fans to travel to Ukraine for the Champions League Final
Of all people to celebrate winning the Europa League and taunting Real Madrid a week before they play in their third consecutive UCL Final, Juanfran is probably the worst person to do it.
Thanks for the laughs Mr. Belén!
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