Colchonero Chat 114: Espanyol and the Europa League

Rob Walker (@rwalk03) is a staff writer at Into the Calderón and the guest on this edition of Colchonero Chat. He joins to discuss one and a half Atlético Madrid matches from the past week, which saw Diego Simeone’s men beat Arsenal but fall to Espanyol.

Rob and Into the Calderón site manager Jeremy Beren (@JBBeren) dive right into a brief discussion of a rotated, tired Atlético’s sad performance on Sunday — which probably takes second place out of their hands — before shifting to an entirely different display: Thursday night’s Europa League semifinal second leg. The podders discuss Diego Costa’s big goal, a suprisingly unsurprising 90 minutes from the Gunners, Simeone’s suspension and everything else from A Stadium Called Wanda’s first truly big night.

The guys then leap ahead to the Europa League final on May 16 against Marseille. While not a full preview, Jeremy and Rob bemoan Bjorn Kuipers’ appointment as the referee, analyze the French side’s strengths and weaknesses and talk about where Atlético might be in terms of health when next Wednesday rolls around.