The Wanda Metropolitano rises from the Las Rosas neighbourhood of Madrid, set against the backdrop of the Sierra del Norte mountains, a blood red glow seeping from underneath the white collar that rings this imposing arena.
Along the Avenida Arcentales, thousands of fans gathered more than two hours before kick-off on Wednesday night to welcome the Atletico Madrid team bus and give Manchester United the hostile reception they were fully expecting.
The 68-500-capacity stadium hadn't replaced the old Vicente Calderon, located much closer to the centre of the Spanish capital, as Atletico's home when David de Gea left to join United for £18.9million in the summer of 2011.
Then again, so much of the modern-day Atletico didn't exist. The charismatic – some might say crazy – Diego Simeone was still six months away from taking over as manager.
Atletico had only won a solitary La Liga title in 34 years, and you had to go back another three years for their last appearance in the European Cup final.
De Gea lifted the Europa League and European Super Cup in his first season in senior football but left for bigger horizons at United, a club that had just made its third appearance in the Champions League final in four years.
It's fair to say things haven't quite worked out as he planned. In more than a decade at Old Trafford, De Gea has only added one Premier League title, one FA Cup and one League Cup to his cv – plus a Europa League winners' medal for making two appearances in the competition in 2017.
Atletico, on the other hand, have been transformed under Simeone, winning two titles and reaching two Champions League finals. Had it not been for the cursed dominance of their city rivals Real Madrid, it could have been even better.
So how did De Gea feel about his homecoming, and a first appearance against his old club?
'I like the fact I was born in Madrid, but at the end of the day, it's just a city. Now I feel as if I'm from Manchester,' said the Spain goalkeeper, perhaps forgetting he was a faulty fax machine away from returning to Madrid with Real in the summer of 2015.
De Gea's pop star partner Edurne was known to be less than enthused with life in Manchester as well, but he has lasted more than 10 years at United. The 20-year-old boy is now a 31-year-old man and a father too.
This was his 474th appearance in goal for the club, and only Alex Stepney has managed more than that.
De Gea was certainly given a more gentle reception on his return than former Real favourites Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane, which isn't saying much, but the niceties ended there.
His goal was under siege as early as the third minute when Victor Lindelof, chosen as a more defensive right-back ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot, got in a vital block to deny Jose Gimenez.
It was only a temporary reprieve for United as Lindelof cleared the ball from a corner in the seventh minute and Renan Lodi swung it back in for the unmarked Joao Felix to head in off the post.
De Gea hadn't touched the ball with his hands and he was already picking it out of the net.
In fact, his only touch of any kind up to that point was to mistakenly kick the ball into touch. Indeed, much of the first half was spent as an extra outfield player, receiving back-passes and playing the ball back out again as United struggled to make any inroads further up the pitch.
His opposite number, Jan Oblak, stood at the other end dressed all in orange with very little to do.
When Varane miscued another back-pass on the half hour mark under pressure from Angel Correa, De Gea had to be on his toes to race out and clear.
But he was lucky not to concede again just before half-time when Sime Vrsaljko somehow contrived to send a downward header against the bar. Again, there was little De Gea could have done about it.
It was a quieter second period for De Gea as Atletico sat back on their lead – rather unwisely as it turned out – before Antoine Griezmann hit the bar late on.
The result gives United a decent chance of going through at Old Trafford in three weeks’ time, but De Gea would be the first to acknowledge that his old club aren't done yet.