"We're not making a song and dance about beating Madrid"
The Atlético Madrid manager was in jovial form after securing his third league win at the Bernabéu on the spin: "We played with pride, determination and passion".
Diego Simeone was in typically reserved mood after his side
Atlético had been low on goals coming into this game…
“We have a very clearly defined identity. The level of effort shown by the team today has always been there. We got a goal today and had chances to score more. It was a game that required a lot of cunning and a high work rate. We really came into the game after the first 20 minutes. Torres and Griezmann put in a great shift. We looked far steadier after the opening 20 minutes”.
Griezmann back to scoring ways…
“The great thing about Antoine is that he is happy to deal with the weight of expectation people have put is on his shoulders. Fortunately he was able to get back on the score sheet today”.
Did you predict a game like that?
“The match was what it was, at the Bernabéu against a world-class team full of top level players. We played with pride, determination and passion. It was a tremendous performance. Once again the fans will be extremely proud of their team. I expected a struggle, as I do in every game. But we had a foothold of the game from the 20th minute onwards. We stuck to our guns and kept things nice and simple. Our performance was a good representation of Atlético Madrid, that’s what we’re all about”.
Thoughts on Augusto’s performance?
He and Gabi controlled the flow of the game for us in the centre of the park. All the players were great in that regard. Fernando Torres chased down everything, even the most hopeless of causes”.
This is the third straight league win in the Bernabéu…
We’re not going to make a song and dance about it. Explaining how my players are feeling is tricky. Eventually we’ll lose a game, but the team will continue to play with the same spirit. We are building a better present and future together. We have young players coming through”.
Is the La Liga title out of reach?
Barcelona are excellent. It’s unlikely they’ll lose three games. Our minds are focused on achieving our objective, which is to finish among the top three. We all want to finish as high as possible. We’re keeping our heads. This is a good time to assess what we’ve been doing”.
Carrasco still not fit…
“He wouldn’t have been able to work as hard as Saúl or Koke today. We need him back. This is his first season with the team and he’s adapted extremely quickly to our way of doing things”.
How will you address the lack of goals?
We’ll continue working to improve and to be in the best shape possible. We are proud to be part of Atlético”.