Atlético Madrid vs. Leicester City, 2017 Champions League draw: Foxes face the bigger versions of themselves

When fairytales collide! Over the last few seasons under Diego Simeone, Atlético Madrid have been the darlings of Europe, disrupting the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly in Spain and reaching two of the last four Champions League finals. But all that looks a little pedestrian next to Leicester City, who became the least likely English champions of all time last season, and are now well out into the unknown.

It’s been a slightly odd season for Madrid’s other team. Diego Simeone is now in his sixth season in charge and though they retain much of the abrasive commitment and fierce brilliance that has characterised his reign, they’re currently 10 points off the pace in La Liga, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla. Add to the the fact that Simeone recently shortened his contract, and there’s a real end of an era smell to things.

In Europe, however, they’ve been proceeding smoothly. They topped Group D ahead of Bayern Munich (much to Arsenal’s annoyance) and then thumped Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 away in the first leg of the last 16. A nil-nil draw saw them through to the quarter-finals, and whatever their league form, they are an ideal cup team, capable of scoring in bursts and defending at length.

Key player: Antoine Griezmann

The greatest compliment modern football can pay to a player is to shower them with transfer rumours, and Antoine Griezmann is soaked. But whatever his future, he’s still scoring for Atlético: he’s got 22 for the season across all competitions. He is a fascinating footballer of prodigious talents, equally capable of lashing the ball into the net from thirty yards out and arriving unnoticed at the far post to poke home. Be interesting to see what Wes Morgan and Robert Huth make of him.

When announcing this draw, UEFA’s man-in-a-suit muttered into the microphone “We have no precedents for this game”. And he was right. Leicester shouldn’t be here, twice over. First and most obviously, they shouldn’t have won the Premier League last season. It was as ridiculous as it was brilliant. Then, having done so, they shouldn’t be here.

They’ve been mucking around on the edge of the relegation battle all season, yet made serene progress through Group G. Then, having lost to Sevilla in the first leg of their last-16 tie and sacked their unsackable hero of a manager, they somehow managed to effect another against-the-odds heist. Silly things keep happening. Still, ominously for Atlético and entertainingly for the rest of us, they look back to the team of last season.

Key player: Jamie Vardy

Vardy isn’t the best striker in the world. But he just might be the most annoying. Not just in a provocative sense — although he managed to goad Sevilla’s Samir Nasri into an unwise headbutt — but as a player. He runs. He hassles. He runs some more. He falls to the floor under the slightest of touches. And he scores, too, when he’s in the mood and he gets the service.

Well, common sense suggests Atlético, who have the better players, the better European pedigree, and — with all due respect to Craig Shakespeare — the better manager. But Leicester City have made fools out of common sense before. The Foxes to nick it.