War of attrition…
A prolonged period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear down the other by a series of small-scale actions.
You probably thought this was only associated with war stories right? Cultivation stories, fantasy stories… well, football has them too.
And the Lord of it? Jose Mourinho, one of the most enigmatic coaches in the history of football.
The eccentric Portuguese coach was literally the embodiment of warfare in football. He was ready to employ any means to win, whether through psychological warfare, or through a war of attrition.
His tactics were so crazy that the coined a term after them, 'parking the bus'.
They were a reflection of how his teams as underdogs usually parked 10 men behind the ball, defending and wasting time till death.
Jose Mourinho was infamous for his tactics, but he's been successful with them before; his iconic treble victories with Porto and Inter Milan, feats that the world of football once thought of as impossible.
Jose Mourinho was a football coach that believed that the psychological aspect was even more important than the physical in football.
This was why he was the most infamous trash-talker in the history of football.
Even before the war starts, he already started it in the media.
But Jose Mourinho was not the only coach with such tactics. Diego Simeone, the Atletico Madrid head coach, he was another OG who equally mastered the ways of psychology and parking the bus.
In essence, a war of attrition.
That was what Diego Simeone intended for tonight, a slow, grueling war to wear Barcelona's fearsome attack down so they could capitalize and snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat.
That was their only chance tonight.
The players emerged from the tunnel with jaws clenched, shirts heavy with sweat, and eyes blazing. The King Fahd Stadium hummed like a pressure cooker, two armies about to clash again.
Diego Simeone clapped furiously on the touchline, black suit drenched in perspiration. "Más! Más! Hasta el final!" His voice was a whip.
Hansi Flick's arms folded tight, his expression colder, sharper now. "Patience," he urged. "Movement, trust the game."
And then…
FWEEEE!
The second half began.
And once again, Atletico Madrid set up their red wall.
They retreated even deeper, shaping themselves into a living barricade. Lenglet and Le Normand hugged the box, while Simeone Jnr. sprinted tirelessly between lines, and Sorloth held high as a lone mast.
With his physicality and ability to score in front of goal, he kept the Barcelona defense always on tenterhooks.
Cardoso and Barrios? They snapped like guard dogs at anyone daring to step into midfield, while Almada drifted just enough to sting on the break. On another side, Álvarez hounded Balde into submission.
Every time Sam touched the ball, he was suffocated by two, sometimes three bodies as Atletico were still very much mindful of his threat.
With them sitting so deep, they had the luxury to put more men on Sam.
Oblak barked commands behind them, gloves pointed like a commander's baton. "¡Izquierda! ¡Cierra!"
Barça moved the ball endlessly, side to side, left to right, stretching the fortress, but no tangible result yet.
In the 52nd minute, Pedri threaded an impossible needle to Yamal, whose shimmy left Hancko staggering. He crossed, Lewandowski leapt, but once again Jan Oblak's glove deflected it an inch wide.
Atleti didn't just park the bus, in goal, they had one of the best goalkeepers in world football, making the job of penetrating them exponentially harder.
It was a nightmarish setup to any opposition.
Raphinha fired from distance on the 58th, thunder cracking through the desert sky, summoned by his boots. But once again, Oblak parried, then pounced on the rebound before Sam could stab it home.
Still, Atlético did not break.
Every blade of grass became a battlefield. It no longer felt elegant, it felt more like a brawl in the trenches now.
Sam absorbed punishment, fouled relentlessly but always rising again. Lenglet body-checked him at every given opportunity into the turf, Barrios chopped his ankle, and Le Normand shoved him when the referee looked away.
And yet, Sam's presence bent reality.
In the 67th minute, he dragged two men wide, opening the seam for Gavi to dart through. Pedri found him, and Gavi smashed toward goal but again Oblak flew, Superman in gloves.
The Atleti fans howled in ecstasy; their captain was keeping them alive.
In the 73rd minute, Atlético finally threatened again.
Almada wriggled free from Pedri, lifting a perfect ball to Sorloth. The Norwegian bullied Araújo off balance, chesting it down before lashing at goal but Garcia saved with his knees.
The rebound spilled, and Giovanni Simeone lunged, but Cubarsí blocked with his face, collapsing backward.
The red-and-white end screamed, smelling miracle.
Minutes bled away, tension coiling like a spring.
Barça hammered the gates, wave after wave. Yamal tore inside, Pedri pirouetted, and Sam slipped and spun. He did everything, yet… every shot met Oblak, and every cross found a red head.
In the 81st minute, Sam finally broke loose at the top of the box, slaloming between Barrios and Cardoso. He unleashed a curling strike at goal.
But you already know what happened next.
Oblak leapt sideways, stretching beyond belief, and clawing the ball out of the air. Tonight, he was Superman!
Sam froze, hands on his hips, disbelief etched into sweat. The Atleti section sang his name mockingly.
"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"
Then they sang their captain's with true reverence.
"Oblak!" "Oblak!" "Oblak!"
By the 88th minute, desperation painted every face. Barça swarmed forward with reckless abandon, Balde bombing into attack. Even Kounde went on the attack.
Atlético dug claws in deeper, every clearance cheered like a goal. Simeone Snr. never stopped screaming, his coat a cape, his fists pumping like pistons.
The scoreboard glowed 0–0 as time withered.
Sam looked at the clock [90 minutes]. The fourth official raised the board as the additional minutes were shown. [+3 minutes].
The King Fahd Stadium held its breath.
The ball found Sam's feet one last time, near midfield. He was exhausted, bruised, bleeding from a scrape on his shin. But his eyes… they still burned.
He glanced at Oblak's goal, then at his teammates. Yamal pointed, Raphinha gestured, Lewandowski barked.
But Sam inhaled, chest rising, lungs screaming. 'Now or never'.
He pushed forward, dragging three men with him, slipping past one, then another. The entire Atlético defense collapsed toward him.
The whistle was seconds away.
The dagger was coming.