SEVILLE, Spain, April 17 (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid stand on the brink of a revival season under Diego Simeone, with Saturday's Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad offering the chance to end a five-year wait for silverware and perhaps signal something even bigger.
After surviving a fierce Barcelona fightback to reach their first Champions League semi-final in nine years on Tuesday, Simeone's side are daring to dream again.
A 2-1 home defeat proved just enough to send them through 3-2 on aggregate, the Metropolitano crowd exhaling in relief as Atletico edged into the last four where Premier League leaders Arsenal await in the first leg in Madrid on April 29.
Before thoughts drift to Europe, however, there is the matter of Saturday's final at Seville's La Cartuja stadium.
Atletico are bidding for an 11th Spanish Cup and first since 2013 against Pellegrino Matarazzo's in-form Basque side.
For Simeone, this season represents a potential turning point.
The Argentine transformed Atletico after arriving midway through the 2011-12 campaign, ushering in a decade that delivered two Europa League titles, two Champions League finals, LaLiga crowns in 2014 and 2021 and the Copa in 2013.
Real Madrid twice denied Simeone European glory in the 2014 and 2016 finals and again in the 2017 semi-final, but Atletico earned a reputation as knockout specialists.
Lionel Messi's Barca were eliminated twice in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Chelsea, AC Milan and Bayern Munich also fell to Atletico at various points in that formidable run.
Yet since lifting the Europa League in 2018, the spark had appeared to start fading. The 2021 LaLiga title, won behind closed doors during the pandemic, remains their last trophy.
In the years that followed, Atletico endured eight seasons without reaching a European semi or Copa final, and scrutiny intensified in this campaign — Simeone's 14th — amid four years without major honours and tension over the club's direction.
Domestic form has done little to ease the pressure. Atletico sit fourth in LaLiga, 22 points adrift of leaders Barcelona, and have been effectively out of the title race since January.
But knockout football has stirred something familiar.
Atletico eliminated Lamine Yamal's Barca in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and in the Champions League, rekindling memories of their European exploits a decade ago.
"Knocking Barca out in the Champions League quarter-finals isn't easy," Simeone said after Tuesday's tie. "We've faced Messi's Barça, Yamal's Barça, and we've done it."
"I've been here for 14 years. Seeing the team compete still gets me excited. The players have changed, we've had to start from scratch many times, and once again we're among the top four teams in Europe ... What a thrill it is to play in a Champions League semi-final."
For a fanbase schooled in suffering, the script now writes itself: a Copa final on Saturday, Arsenal to follow and the prospect of the showpiece match in Budapest on the horizon. True to Simeone's mantra, though, it is one game at a time.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)
