MADRID — On the touchline, Diego Simeone was crying. Julián Álvarez had just put Atletico Madrid 4-2 up against Real Madrid, curling a free kick past Thibaut Courtois to decisively shift the derby in Atletico’s favor and perhaps kickstart their season.

For Simeone, it was all too much. He rubbed his face, almost sinking to his knees, before smiling, rubbing his eyes again, and covering his face with his hands. He did his best, but there was no hiding it: these were tears, an outpouring of relief and joy, of pressure released.

In an instant, on the biggest stage, against their biggest rivals, Atletico’s difficult, demoralizing start to the season had been swept away. At the Metropolitano, they were delivering an electric, historic performance, and anything seemed possible.

It ended 5-2, and if his reaction didn’t say enough, here’s a stat: In all of Simeone’s 14 years in charge, he had never seen his team score five goals against Real Madrid in a competitive game.

“There’s a lot of emotion,” Simeone admitted afterwards, speaking to DAZN, when asked about those tears. “It’s a season that started with a lot of difficulty. There’s a lot of effort, from a lot of people behind the scenes. Their work is fantastic.”

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There was emotion, too, for Xabi Alonso. His first Madrid derby as coach ended not just in defeat, but in a painful lesson. “This defeat hurts,” he said afterwards. “We were lacking a gear.”

Until Saturday, Real’s start to the season under Alonso had been near flawless, winning every game, the team steadily growing in stature and confidence, led by Kylian Mbappé, who scored another, superb goal here, his eighth in LaLiga this season. But now, Alonso admitted: “we have to draw conclusions from what happened.”

This kind of loss is not acceptable at Real Madrid, even for a new coach with a lot of credit, like Alonso. “We didn’t find our level,” he said.

One player who has unquestionably found his level is the derby’s MVP, Julian Alvarez, and his performance also proved that a lot can change in a week.

Last Sunday, Alvarez was sat, despondent, on the Atletico bench, hauled off early by Simeone in the team’s latest disappointing performance, a 1-1 draw at Real Mallorca. There were suggestions, later disputed by Alvarez, that he had muttered “always me” in reaction to being withdrawn by Simeone. He insisted he’d simply been frustrated with himself.

Five goals in four days later — the latest two in this derby’s second-half, a cooly converted penalty and the free kick that made Simeone cry — and Julián can’t stop smiling.

“It’s very special,” he said afterwards. “We knew how important it was. It’s a derby, and we needed the three points… Earlier in the season, we weren’t getting the results, but we were playing well. We’ve been creating more chances than any other team. Today we were more efficient.”

Simeone has frequently called Alvarez “the best player we have.” “He’s very, very good,” the coach said on Saturday. “He works hard, he’s committed. We have to look after him.”

When asked to clarify what “look after him” meant, Simeone was explicit: “we have to give him the tools to score goals.” Atletico’s collective play needs to be at the level of the team’s star.

Going into the derby, that hadn’t been the case, with nine points separating these two teams pre-match after just six LaLiga matchdays. Real were leading the way with six wins out of six. Atletico, with three draws and a loss on their record, were already mid-table. A Real Madrid win at the Metropolitano would have felt like a knockout punch. Instead, it’s Atletico whose season has been revived.

In all of Simeone’s 28 LaLiga derbies, there haven’t been many as entertaining as this. Heck, the previous three in the league had all finished 1-1. In last season’s Champions League last 16, a penalty shootout was needed to separate them. That particular night was defined by Alvarez’s slip in the shootout, a two-touch penalty, which unluckily cost Atletico the tie. It was a moment that derailed — and ended up defining — Atletico’s season, which subsequently drifted away into disappointment.

This week, Julián has had the opposite effect. On Wednesday, the team were 2-1 down to Rayo Vallecano before Alvarez scored twice in eight second-half minutes. That night ended with Simeone and Alvarez sharing a bear hug on the pitch, aware of the significance of the moment.

Then, on Saturday, Alvarez delivered again.

And what of Alonso’s Real Madrid? They have improved since last season, looking better organized, with Mbappé in career-best form, and exciting signs from Arda Güler and Franco Mastantuono. Güler shone again on Saturday, contributing another goal and assist.

There will be more to come from Jude Bellingham, too, who looked to have been rushed into the team here — for his first start of the season — having played just 20 minutes beforehand. But this was confirmation that Madrid are far from the finished article.

“We’re in a construction phase,” Alonso said on Saturday. “This is a process.” But the scale of the defeat was stunning.

There were some, muted complaints about the referee — such as the decision not to give Alexander Sorloth a second yellow card for celebrating with fans in the stands after his first-half equalizer — but there was also no hiding from the fact that this loss was, as Alonso admitted, entirely deserved.

Madrid were not quick enough to close down Atletico, who were repeatedly afforded opportunities to deliver balls in the box, where Madrid’s defenders looked equally ill-equipped to deal with the aerial threat of Sorloth, or the quick feet of Alvarez. Alonso called it “positive damage,” an opportunity to learn, grow and improve. But it’s damage, nonetheless.

“There are tough days, that’s sport, that’s football,” Alonso said Saturday. “What’s important is how we react.”