A place in the Copa del Rey semi-final was already safely secured for Atletico Madrid when two second-half substitutes combined to complete a five-star performance at the Metropolitano Stadium.
Diego Simeone's side were 4-0 up against city rivals Getafe in the 86th minute when giant striker Alexander Sorloth exchanged passes with Andre Correa before slotting home his 11th goal of the campaign.
It had been a convincing if not exactly surprising victory for Atletico who went into the game having lost just once in all competitions since the start of November, winning 19 out of 21 matches along the way.
The run had lifted Los Rojiblancos up to second in La Liga, through to the Uefa Champions League knockout stage and now into the last four of the Copa del Rey.
This latest win had capped a memorable few days for the Simeone family. On Saturday, manager Diego took charge of his 500th La Liga game as Atletico eased to a 2-0 win over Mallorca that lifted them to within a point of table-toppers Real Madrid – who they face on Saturday.
“We look at the present, but I’m very happy with this journey,” said the Argentine, who has won two La Liga titles, two Europa Leagues, plus one Uefa Super Cup, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup during a remarkable 14-year reign.
“Many people in the coaching staff who are no longer here helped us get to this point, players who shared an idea, leaders who are also not here and accompanied us. It makes me very happy.
“I'll make a special section for my family … Without their support and company, this would be impossible. It has been many years giving all the love and responsibility to a club that I love very much, but we take a lot of time away from the family.”
Three days later, it was his son, Giuliano, hogging the headlines when the winger scored twice in the first 17 minutes against Getafe, only being denied a hat-trick by the linesman's flag just after half-time.
“I'm very happy to have a night like that in the stadium, it was crazy, but first of all I have to thank the whole team because we made a huge effort,” man of the match Giuliano told Teledeporte.
“I'm happy for the goals, I think about the things I have to improve day by day, I still have many flaws and details that I want to improve to keep growing.”
“He's in a very good moment, the fans recognise it, they will demand a lot more from him and he has to maintain this level,” Simeone Senior said of his 22-year-old offspring who is enjoying a breakthrough campaign at the club.
As well as his in-form son, the attacking options at Simeone's disposal this season are impressive as they look to lift their first major trophy since securing the La Liga title in 2021.
Last summer saw the arrival of 1.94 metre-tall Sorloth for €32 million after a prolific year at Villarreal when the Norwegian striker scored 23 goals in 34 La Liga games.
Argentina's World Cup winning attacker Julian Alvarez completed a move from English Premier League champions Manchester City that was reported to be worth up to €95m.
They joined veteran striker and all-time club top scorer Antoine Griezmann in the Spanish capital and the trio have combined for 42 goals between them so far.
In midfield, England international Conor Gallagher arrived from Chelsea for €40m, while the defence was boosted by the €35m signing of classy Real Sociedad centre-back Robin Le Normand.
The French-born Spain international missed two months of the campaign following a clash of heads with Aurelien Tchouameni in the September draw with Real that left him with a brain trauma injury.
But he is back in the team and making a key contribution to Atletico's impressive defensive record that has seen them concede a miserly and Liga-best 14 goals, keeping a clean sheet in 10 of their 22 matches.
The bad news for Atletico – as they head into the game against a Real attack at the Bernabeu Stadium potentially consisting of Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Kylian Mbappe, is that their key centre-half will be missing through suspension.
“I'd give a lot [to play], but that's life, it is what it is, five yellow cards for defenders are few,” said Le Normand. “Bad luck, I would have liked to play, but now I trust my teammates, we'll get through it.”
Real, meanwhile, go into the derby in the middle of a full-blown injury crisis that resulted in them fielding a second-string line-up in their Copa del Rey win over Leganes.
They needed an injury-time winner from 20-year-old academy forward Gonzalo Garcia – making his first appearance of the season – to secure a 3-2 victory, despite taking a 2-0 first-half lead.
Real were forced to play youngsters Jacobo Ramon (20) and Raul Asencio (21) at centre-back, with Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba joining long-term defensive casualties Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal on the injured list.
In attack, 18-year-old Brazilian Endrick and 19-year-old Turk Arda Guler both started, with Bellingham and Mbappe nursing minor knocks.
It is a far from ideal situation ahead of what is a crucial few days for the reigning Spanish and European champions that sees them face Atletico and then Manchester City in the Champions League play-off first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
“At the back we struggled a bit, Jacobo felt the weight of playing his first game with us a bit, he was a little nervous but then he was more clinical as the game progressed,” boss Carlo Ancelotti said after beating Leganes.“We avoided extra time that would have cost more to recover. We've left players out to be ready on Saturday, so we'll be ready [for Atletico].”
