Atletico Madrid on a high after return to Champions League semis and with chance to win Copa title

MADRID (AP) — It's good to be an Atletico Madrid fan right now. One of the most fanatic fan bases in Europe is also one of the most long-suffering ones, with the team perennially in the shadows of powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona. Atletico is on top, though, having eliminated Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and seeing city rival Real Madrid in need of overcoming a one-goal deficit against Bayern Munich in Wednesday's second leg of their quarterfinal in Germany. Atletico can cap its good week by winning the Copa del Rey for the first time in more than a decade on Saturday, when it will face Real Sociedad in Seville. Fans are feeling good about themselves, and the club is capitalizing on the moment. Atletico on Wednesday posted a series of posts on X provoking Barcelona and celebrating its triumph. The team lost Tuesday's match 2-1 at its Metropolitano stadium, but it had won 2-0 in Barcelona last week. “How's it going?” said one of the first posts on Atletico's X account not long after the game. “We love the smell of freshly cut grass in the morning,” the team said on a post Wednesday, in an apparent reference to the complaints by Barcelona coach Hansi Flick on Tuesday saying that the grass at the Metropolitano was too high and would hurt his team. Another post showed a video of players celebrating on the field in front of Atletico fans after the match, along with the phrase, “More than a club,” alluding to the same words that Barcelona uses to describe itself. One post showed Atletico players wearing sun glasses and using earphones, referencing a similar photo of Barcelona star Lamine Yamal doing what appeared to be a LeBron James impression ahead of the 2016 NBA Finals in which James' Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit in the series to win the title. Yamal had said ahead of Tuesday's match that James was an inspiration for him. He also used on Instagram a photo of James holding the NBA trophy after winning the 2016 title. Another post showed a video of a lion — with the image of the Barcelona shield on it — transforming into a dog after trying to attack a man who had the Atletico shield on him. “We are proud of the work that we have being doing all season,” Atletico captain Koke Resurrección said. “We played against one of the most difficult opponents that we could face, with young players who are among the best in the world, and we deservedly won. This is something historic for the club. We know that it's not easy to be among the last four in the Champions League.” Atletico, seeking its first Champions League title, had not reached the semifinals since 2017, when it was eliminated by Real Madrid. It also lost to Madrid in finals in 2014 and 2016. Atletico eliminated Barcelona on its way to those two finals. The club made it to the European Cup final one other time, in 1974, when it lost to Bayern Munich. “It's great to be able to give our fans a Champions League semifinal and a Copa final,” said Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann, who was with Atletico when it lost the 2016 European final and who will leave the club at the end of the season for Major League Soccer. Atletico has been the perennial third-best club in Spain. It has rarely broken through the dominance of Real Madrid — a record 15-time European champion — and Barcelona, a five-time Champions League winner. The powerhouses have combined to win all but one Spanish league title since 2015 — Atletico did it in 2021. The team can bring home its first Copa title since 2013 on Saturday, that's if it can recover from the celebrations from Tuesday. Defender Marcos Llorente said he only got about three hours of sleep after the match against Barcelona. “Hopefully they can get some rest and on Saturday we will try to play a good final,” coach Diego Simeone said. \\\_ AP soccer: