A night of memorable European football was in store for the crowd packed into the Vicente Calderon stadium. As the late September sun set over the Spanish capital, the notoriously loud Atletico faithful collectively cleared their throats in preparation for an evening of relentless singing and chanting. The twelfth Atleti player was going to make visitors Bayern Munich know they were at a disadvantage from even before the starting whistle.

As the crowd’s roars grew, Atletico boss Diego Simeone roared louder as he monitored every movement, living every pass and every shot from the sideline. Just a few metres away, Carlo Ancelotti stood back and calmly observed his players - the current German champions - as they slowly succumbed to the Rojiblanco attack in the opening half.

The different characters of these old rivals were never more evident than during the heated battle on the pitch. The former Real Madrid coach has always struggled at Atletico. His record against his former cross-town rivals during his two-season-stint in the Spanish capital could best be described as erratic. In 13 encounters, he won four and lost five.

The difficulty in overcoming Simeone’s squad became clear yet again as Atletico made it one-nil. Belgian international Yannick Carrasco took advantage of an Antoine Griezmann pass to penetrate the Bayern defence after 35 minutes. Munich, unbeaten at home this season, looked headed for their first slip-up of the campaign.

After the match Carrasco told DW what it felt like to score in front of the passionate home crowd. “Everybody who comes to see a game here ends up with goosebumps and the players do as well. It’s very special because we have a lot of fans behind us.”

The second half proved to be tactically similar to the first with Munich holding a great deal of possession, and Atletico could have gone two or even three goals ahead. Madrid institution Fernando Torres came close as he battled for the 78 minutes he was on the pitch. His efforts awarded with chants of his name from an appreciative home crowd.

In-demand striker Antoine Griezmann could have made it two for the Colchoneros had he not missed a penalty six minutes from the final whistle.

In the end the Rojiblanco’s solid defence held out and Bayern were tamed once again by a team that is fast becoming their biggest foe on the European stage. Memories of their exit from the Champions League last season are still fresh for many of the Bavarian squad.

“It’s going to be different,” a shell-shocked Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal told DW after the game about their next encounter in Munich. “We’re going to try to avoid making the same mistakes as we did today. We’ll need to take advantage of any chances that come our way and show that we’re a strong team that wants to win the Champions League.”

What those differences may be remains to be seen but time is on Carlo Ancelotti’s side if he wants Bayern to win their sixth European Cup. The return leg in Munich is not until December. The only certainty for now is the presence of Atletico's twelfth man won’t be felt so strongly on German soil.