Arsenal and Chelsea can benefit from Atlético's Europa League scorecard | Sid Lowe | Soccer

OOn the night of November, when Qarabag eliminated Atletico Madrid from the Champions League, club captain Gabi Fernández was invited to give his opinion on the fact that the two finalists had to withdraw to contest the UEFA Champions League. second European competition. "For the moment," he said, "I would say that the Europa League is a shit."

If Gabi often remembered the first half of the sentence, six days after the uprising of the UEFA Cup trophy in Lyon, the second part was largely forgotten. And yet it was important. "But," he said at the time, "it has come a long way and we will try to win."

Above all, it gave them a beginning, a meaning. On the morning of Atlético's visit to Copenhagen on the 32nd day, the title of the best-selling sports newspaper in the country, Marca, said: "It all started with you."

Atletico was then what they were, at least in part, because of the Europa League, and there might be a parallel between Chelsea and Arsenal, a lesson. As in Liverpool, he could lose the final of the Europa League against Sevilla ahead of two consecutive finals of the Champions League.

It's an escape, a point of access. And it's not only that winning gives access to the Champions League, which it has not done yet; it is that he prepares you for the Champions League. And, in the case of Atletico, for all the rest too.

Without the Europa League, there would be no Copa del Rey, no championship, no Champions League final, nothing. This time, their best in three decades, would be unthinkable. Ask Diego Simeone.

"Everything is important to me. The Cup, the League, the Champions League, the Super Cup. We are looking at how the matches are helping us to continue to progress, as we have been doing for the past six years, "he said before last season's final match against Lokomotiv Moscow in the sixteenth match of his season.

"We can not forget what made us strong. I see old Europa League matches and we did not even have a jersey sponsor. We are doing now. We can not forget if we want to keep growing. "

This goes back even before the arrival of Simeone. The victory of the 2010 Europa League under Quique Sánchez Flores may have been a little neglected since, but it was a start. Atlético finished ninth this season, apparently in perpetual crisis, but Europe gave them something to believe, something to believe. be.

"In Europe we have shown that we are an excellent team, "said defender Álvaro Domínguez at the Guardian. The fact that it was a realistic target motivated them more, he admitted. Last year, Domínguez spoke about this success in El País, precisely to contest the idea that the "relegation" of Atlético in Europa League meant that their time was over. instead, he said, he could restart them.

"There was a negative atmosphere, people still remembered the relegation [in 1999]there were bad seasons, bad signatures, "he said. "There were whistles at the Calderón, things were going badly in the league, but the fans have connected with the team in these European matches. For the club, it was comforting, everything was calmed and the fans started to believe in the team. We had to activate [everyone] and we did it with the Europa League. "

At first glance, the effect did not last long but something had changed a bit – and would continue under Simeone. The Europa League of 2010 was Atletico's first title in 14 years. Since then, they have been relegated to the background and sank in the second division for two years.

It was their first European trophy since the 1962 Cup Winners' Cup and their first win out of the country since the 1975 Intercontinental Cup, in the first season as coach of Luis Aragonés. This is also the first trend of Simeone at Atlético after the defeat of Athletic Bilbao in 2012.

The Argentinian had arrived in the middle of the season, the team recovering and ranking fifth, just in front of the Champions League places. A trophy reinforced the feeling that a new era was beginning, thus strengthening its position. "It's very, very important to me," Simeone said. It had started and nothing would be like before.

The first season of Simeone is over with the Europa League. His second match started with the European Super Cup and ended with the Copa del Rey, against Real Madrid, at Bernabéu. His third is ended with the title of champion, won at Camp Nou.

There was of course also a final of the Champions League, then two years later. Between these there was a Super Cup of Spain. Last season, Atlético went back to the Europa League final, back to where it all started, reminding them of the road traveled.

Photo: Chesnot / Getty Images Europe

If anyone knew up to where it was, it was Fernando Torres. The victory in Lyon saw him leave Atletico Madrid with his first title at the club. This makes Simeone the most successful manager in his history, ahead of Aragonés.

It also allowed Gabi to start with a seventh winning medal, unthinkable when he made his team debut for a struggling club 14 years earlier. Together, he and Torres raised the trophy, the perfect end. "I'm going to have to eat that shit now," Gabi said afterwards.