Atleti explodes to life in its impressive new home
Wanda Metropolitano was the perfect backdrop for an Atleti performance that may have breathed life into its ailing Champions League campaign.
As you emerge from the San Blas-Canillejas metro station, nestled in Madrid's east, Wanda Metropolitano greets you like an old classmate you haven't seen since Primary school.
Boasting a grand new roof that blends with the surrounding terrain and vast interior renovation, the stadium that was first opened as an athletics venue in 1994 is barely recognisable.
An impressive fit-out has transformed the old venue into a world class stadium befitting its new owner's - Atletico Madrid - recent success.
Where the beloved Vicente Calderon had a charmed, rustic quality, Metrolpolitano is vast without being a monstrosity, big but not soulless.
Steep seats rise up around the pitch like waves that threaten to overwhelm. The opposite occurs as vocifrous fans pile in, the impressive acoustics lending the stadium - filled to capacity on this evening for the UEFA Champions League visit of Italian giant Roma - a far more intimate feel.
In fact, the boisterous chants of the emboldened, albeit vastly outnumbered visiting few, reverberate around the heaving cavern like statements of intent. The home fans pause briefly, as if temporarily startled, before thundering back in reply.
These animated crowd exchanges set the backdrop for a match that explodes to life when French star Antoine Griezmann jumps, flips, and connects his left foot with the middle of the ball to send it barrelling into the back of the Roma net.
With one acrobatic swing of his valuable left peg, the 26 year-old has breathed life into Atleti's hitherto tepid campaign and put just the slightest amount of pressure on the Italians.
When Roma defender Bruno Peres leaves the match after a second yellow, proceedings take on an inevitable feel, Atleti substitute Kevin Gameiro sealing a 2-0 result with a well-taken effort of his own.
Now attention turns to the final group match away to Chelsea - a tough task compounded by Roma's relatively much more manageable home assignment against last-placed Qarabag.
For the Metropolitano, this night is but one of many that will come to define it as a football venue, not least the 2018-2019 Champions League final. Based on last night's experience, it is the perfect venue for European club football's biggest occasion.