An ecstatic Diego Simeone spoke after he saw his Atlético Madrid team trounce Club Brugge 4-1 to win 7-4 on aggregate in the UEFA Champions League play-off round at the Metropolitano on Tuesday evening.
“I’m very happy, there’s a lot of hard work behind these results, which are starting to be more positive than negative,” Simeone said. “Many new players joined us last season and many more this season, so reinventing ourselves is never easy, and when you see the willingness and conviction of the substitutes when they come on, that moves me.
“I’m a football man, and when I see that commitment to the idea, to what we’re looking for, I feel very identified with it,” Simeone added.
Diego Simeone on the team playing in his style
“I appreciate the team’s work. In the first half, we came up against a very good opponent, I’m not lying. They pressed us, they took time away from us. In the second half, we played a much better game in every way.”
Simeone on what was said at half-time
“The feeling that was in the air. They were attacking to win and we were attacking for what, to keep up with them? That’s what we talked about: we had to increase the intensity of our pressing and be more decisive in our attacking positioning. After Johnny’s goal, which opened the way for us, and with the changes… It wasn’t easy to leave Lookman and Griezmann out. Julián had been playing well lately. You have to make decisions, and I’m excited to see that those who come on do so in a way that supports the thinking. It was difficult for us; it’s not easy to decide.”
Simeone on the season
“There’s a lot of work to be done. There are a lot of games. We couldn’t avoid this because we didn’t beat Galatasaray and then (lost to Bodø/Glimt) at home. In La Liga we are far from the top, in the Cup we are competing well. This was a challenge. What if we win or lose, you asked me in the preview? It was an important game. The team responded and we are still in the (Champions League) race.”
Simeone on Cerezo saying it is “mandatory and a necessity” to win
“It is for the club, for Atlético’s economic and global growth. But we want more, of course we do. Hopefully we have the strength, energy and talent to go further.”
Simeone on motivating Alexander Sørloth and Julián Alvarez
“The same thing happened with Griezmann last season. I put him on, I put him on, and he couldn’t respond. These are decisions I make, I take responsibility for them, and I believe in these types of players. Both Griezmann and Julián today… Alex has something that no one else has, and when he’s on form, when he’s present and involved, as he was in the first leg for those 20 minutes, he’s back to the level we need. He’s very important to us.”
Simeone on the physical exertion
“Complaints? Not at all, because there’s nothing you can do about it. Be prepared to perform, try to rotate, or rather, manage it better. Sometimes it will go wrong, other times we’ll get it right. I have to manage it and we will try to get the best out of it for the club.”
Simeone on Johnny Cardoso
“I was very happy. He’s a player we brought in to play, to show everything we saw in him at Betis. He’s struggled. I repeat, a lot of players have arrived and it’s not easy to play for Atlético Madrid. When you take that heat, when you start to feel it, you find your way, and Johnny is on the path we want him to be on.”
Simeone on continuing this form against Barcelona
“We need to win in La Liga, to keep up the pace we picked up the other day against Espanyol. There are still many days to go before the Cup and the focus is on Oviedo.”
Simeone on advice for Club Brugge
“I don’t have any advice, I don’t put myself in someone else’s shoes. I like the team, they’re young, they have very good midfielders; (Raphael) Onyedika was missing (through suspension). They have very fast players up front, strong and brave forwards, a manager who likes to play an exciting game. We were able to understand the game we had to play and, above all, have a very good second half.”
Simeone on the round of 16
“We’re not thinking about Liverpool or Tottenham. We’re enjoying today’s game. Getting back into the round of 16 is very important, and we’ll see if we can improve and progress. The effort of the lads who have been playing a thousand games.”
Simeone on Alexander Sørloth
“I felt he was doing well. The other day against Brugge, he came on and gave the team what it needed because he’s different from the rest. When you have a strong player who pulls the team forward when we can’t find a passing lane. He did very well in Bruges, also against Espanyol, today he did it again.”
Simeone on his satisfaction
“I was excited because there’s a lot of hard work behind it. The lads are putting in a lot of effort, especially the new ones, to adapt to this wonderful team, and they’re settling in and warming up to join the team. I loved how Lookman came on, he should have played because he’s been scoring goals, but Sørloth started. He’ll improve with time, he’s an attacking player and we assumed that Julián understood the game better because he knows us better, but there are no big names here. The game lasts 90 minutes and that’s how we saw Griezmann and him come on.”
Simeone on Griezmann’s future
“I’m not going to speak for him, I love him very much, we’ve talked about many things, I told him what I think. I hope he chooses what he thinks is best and what he wants because he deserves whatever he wants.”
Simeone on Mateu Alemany not confirming that Griezmann will finish the season at Atleti
“He’s in a position where he deserves to choose what he wants to do.”