Tears and little football at the tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother André between Porto and Atlético, in which the Portuguese won.

There are matches that hurt, that are suffered, that are mourned, and that are never forgotten. On Sunday, Porto and Atlético Madrid played one of them. It was a preseason friendly, not a final that ends with tears on the pitch for the winner, of joy, and for the loser, of sadness. The Portuguese won. It was a tribute to the Silva brothers, two young men who lost their lives before their time in an accident that shocked the world of football. Diogo Jota played for both teams, and both wanted to remember him at Do Dragao with a minute of silence that resounded in the Portuguese city.

At his side, the subsequent applause had less of an impact on the Portuguese crowd. The emotion at the death of two beloved compatriots was palpable. Two brothers who grew up just a few miles from the Dragons' stadium. In the 20th minute, Jota's jersey number, another ovation seemed to stop the game in its tracks. André Vilasboas , the top official of the Blue and Whites, was visibly moved throughout the displays of affection. Simeone , serious, looked up at the sky while applauding the images projected on the video scoreboards of Jota 's actions in a Porto shirt.

Two legends from both teams were also in charge of the honorary kickoff of this momentous occasion. Paolo Futre and Radamel Falcao , with a figure that would fit in with either jersey, took to the pitch in a corridor formed by players from both squads. The ball was passed around and Atlético de Madrid's preseason training camp for the eight new signings began.

It was the first match for the Red and Whites after their failure at the Club World Cup. Porto also suffered a similar fate, so it could be considered a duel of redemption for both sides. Simeone 's men tried to forget the match, with a stifling early pressure that gradually dissolved as the minutes ticked by, with Porto's increasingly dangerous attacks on the ball.

The Portuguese have two players in the middle who are difficult to spot. One of them is Gabri Veiga , the Saudi Arabian exile who left gold behind to try to touch glory again. The Galician is a different kind of player, and one regrets that he tried to deprive European football of his talent for two seasons. His play between the lines, passing, and dribbling were key and always created danger. The other is the very young Froholdt , a Dane with an elegant stride who proved unstoppable on the run.

From the heavens above, the tribute to the Silva brothers seemed to descend the angel Jan Oblak . Last season, crowned with another Zamora title to lead the league alone with six, saw the Slovenian recover as a key goalkeeper. Atlético Madrid owed their time to his hands in the first half, with inspired saves for Borja Sainz after an individual move and a one-on-one from Pepe after the Danish midfielder's loan from Porto.

However, as the first 45 minutes drew to a close, Froholdt found a gap in the Atlético defense. He did so with a simple one-two on the edge of the box and a lightning-fast, well-defined run to the far post. Not even the angel Oblak could stop the Nordic devil. It was time to rally in the second half and, above all, improve, since neither the old nor the new players appeared in the first. Baena had little chance, and only a shot from Julián Álvarez was saved by Costa and the crossbar, which narrowly prevented from becoming a goal.

Second part to forget

The Portuguese almost doubled their lead at the start of the second half, but Pepe again missed his chance, and Samu would do the same in the ensuing play. After the scare, Atlético got back to work to dominate the game with a renewed starting lineup. The match was marred either by fatigue or a lack of automatic response, with only flashes of action, like Mora 's, which narrowly missed.

Little else in a duel that won't go down in history for football, but for the tears of tribute to the Silva brothers. Do Dragao bid farewell to Diogo Jota and his brother André with a victory, if that were important on a day like Sunday.