Diego Simeone took time to analyze his Atletico Madrid’s Champions League elimination against Manchester City on Wednesday night, which ended up being a hot-headed affair in the capital.
The match ended 0-0 in Madrid, in favour of Manchester City who won 1-0 at Etihad.
“What is clear to me is that we are proud of who we are, of how we compete. We went out and it hurts, but I love to see those who win celebrating when things go well and not so well, because it shows that what matters is always winning.”
Simeone appeared to have applauded Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City bench as the away players sought to waste time by going to ground at any given opportunity in stoppage time. The Atleti boss denies those claims.
“Me? No, please,” Simeone said when the suggestion of sarcastically applauding City was put to him. “I was applauding the crowd because I was appreciating the effort everyone was making.
“How can I not applaud people like that?”
City’s time-wasting tactics were clear, but the Atleti coach had no issues with the way they went about their game.
The atmosphere at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano was remarkable on the night, even long after the final whistle and Atleti’s elimination had been confirmed.
“The crowd was enormous throughout the game,” Simeone recognised. “The team responded to what the fans were looking for and that kind of thing is difficult to see in stadiums, that people respect you after being eliminated.”
Adapted from Marca
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