Luis Enrique is an intense, almost hectic character, but it takes a lot for football to really get under his skin. But as he sat in front of the media on Wednesday evening and the anger flared in his eyes, it was completely clear that his counterpart had made it.

“Inexplicable” and “unjust” were some of the apt words he used to describe Paris Saint-Germain’s final defeat to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid – “robbery” was another, at the more serious end of the scale.

But for all the hints of misfortune, eye rolling and resigned shrugs, this has happened far too often to Simeone's Champions League opponents for it to be a coincidence. The goals may have come for very few reasons, but the commitment to the defensive system – the collective determination of all 16 players involved in this latest smash-and-grab – is an extraordinary leadership performance in itself.

“This game showed what we do well, we have a clear idea,” summarized Simeone after the game.

“We’ve been working and building for 12 years and we’re not going to deviate from that plan whether people like it or not.”

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Simeone was under no illusions about the challenge that lay ahead and, before the game, expressed his admiration for PSG's varied approach and highlighted their players' constant movement during the build-up to the game. “We don’t know where they’re going to go,” he admitted.

To counteract this, the idea was a simple 4-4-2 without the ball, but with a few typical Simeone instructions. Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez worked exceptionally hard as strike partners to stop the ball from reaching midfield, while Rodrigo de Paul and Pablo Barrios were ready to chase their midfield counterparts all over the pitch.

On both wings, Atletico's full-backs received support from their wide midfielders, particularly the coach's son Giuliano on the right, who liked to stroll quickly across the side, at times forming a chain of five to double up on the dangerous Bradley Barcola when the Frenchman got the ball ball in space.

Problems arose when PSG was able to pull off these positional rotations And Keep the ball moving quickly, as we saw just before the opening goal.

As Warren-Zaire Emery strolls forward with the ball in the first frame, winger Ousmane Dembele drops into a central position to receive the pass, attracting the attention of both his guard Javi Galan and midfielder Conor Gallagher, without someone has a man to take in.

Amid the hesitation between the two, full-back Achraf Hakimi drifts past the goal and shoots backwards, dragging both players towards the halfway line. Zaire-Emery slides the ball over the goal – Atlético are out of shape, as shown in the second image – and Hakimi shoots a dangerous ball across the six-yard box.

From there the game began to unfold as the hosts took the lead after a mix-up of possession, but as soon as Atlético scored a goal of their own after a quick counter-attack, they were keen to end the contest again.

PSG controlled 78.3 percent of the ball between the equalizer and the half-time whistle, but could only muster three shots with a cumulative expected goals value of 0.17.

Sensing the changing dynamic, Atletico took the excitement out of the game by deploying a back six at times to cover passes at goal and challenge opponents to cut through the middle.

It wasn't a change that helped the visitors forward and there were a few ugly moments in attack as Simeone's men crawled towards the half-time break. Notably, Gallagher played a long pass to no one after half an hour, while Julian Alvarez only managed one more touch of the ball than his goalkeeper in the first 45 minutes.

Still, there was plenty of encouragement in the body language as the players lifted each other through the storm. De Paul was a constant motivator, guiding young players Barrios and Simeone through the defensive side of the game, while big tackles and anticipatory passes were greeted with great joy all over the pitch.

Shortly after half-time, for example, PSG moved the ball to the right with the central defenders in possession. This time Hakimi has moved into midfield while Dembele stays out, forcing Gallagher to retreat once again.

As we can see, Galan points at Hakimi, who tries to pick up the winger on the sideline.

Galan runs in to apply pressure, but Dembele's individual brilliance allows him to skip past and storm towards the penalty area…

…before Gallagher sprints back and faces a vital recovery challenge.

This is a team that has each other's backs and is buoyed by the spirit of a manager who can channel the pure adrenaline of defense like no other in the game.

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What's even more impressive is the fact that Atletico's intensity hasn't diminished through five substitutions.

“I liked that we were able to continue generating power,” confirmed Simeone, while Reinildo, Koke, Rodrigo Riquelme, Angel Correa and Samuel Lino picked up where their teammates left off.

Despite the extreme pragmatism, Simeone began to take risks here. He replaced his son Giuliano – who was so alert defensively on the right – with the more explosive Riquelme, who struggled to pass Barcola as effectively as the player he replaced.

There was a one-on-one on the flanks, which Barcola took advantage of and ran past Molina into the penalty area in the 64th minute before Oblak saved his powerful shot.

Simeone's final substitution was a tell-tale sign of his desire for pace on the counter-attack, and while Samuel Lino failed to contribute too much, his introduction – for the heroic Connor Gallagher – was a symbol of the gradual risks Atlético were taking as a player on the clock ticked.

Things got very uncomfortable towards the end and on another day Simeone might have been punished for his ambition. But as the chances on one side became less and less, the secret feeling grew quietly that there might be one on the other side.

A draw would have been sufficient justification for Atletico's actions, but an injury-time victory was the most extraordinary reward for a performance full of character.

It's still not entirely clear when Simeone's era-defining reign at the club will end, but this was a culmination – and fundamentally a product – of the last 12 years of concrete and continuous progress.

(Header photo: Julian Finney – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)