Son of Atlético manager is enjoying breakthrough season and prepares to face leaders Real Madrid for the first time

When Atlético Madrid scored against Real Madrid in the city derby at the Vicente Calderón in January 2015 and the old place erupted, a tiny ballboy in a white bib came running along the touchline from his position near the bench and leapt into the arms of the coach, Diego Simeone. On Saturday night, 10 years on, the pair of them will be as close but if Atlético score at the Santiago Bernabéu don’t expect the same embrace. Not even if the kid scores it, and he might. If he does, it would mean everything: “Atlético,” he says, “is the team of my life.”

His name is Giuliano and he was 12 then. He is 22 now and these days he plays for Atlético, still flying up the wing, looking like his lungs might explode. He has become the embodiment of Atlético’s identity during a season in which they are fighting for everything. He is also an academy product and Simeone’s son, however much the manager tries to avoid that fact.

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