Simeone: «The return leg? We need our fans, more than ever» | OneFootball

Simeone analyzed Atlético de Madrid’s Champions League victory in a match where they beat Barcelona at Camp Nou.

MATCH ANALYSIS

“We defended in an organized way so they couldn’t make progress. We weren’t able to create as many chances as we would have liked, but the one we were looking for came. I was far from Cubarsí’s play, but VAR called the referee over. Julián scored an incredible goal. In the second half they looked more for the counterattack.”

POSSIBLE HANDBALL BY PUBILL

“If I was far from Giuliano’s play, I was even farther from the other one. If the player and the referee interpreted that the play had started, that’s common football sense. After that, we can look for all the situations we want.”

IS HE THINKING ABOUT THE SEMIFINALS?

“No. We’re facing a very strong opponent, and we have the humility to say they are very good. We’ll play with all our excitement, with our people, and with commitment.”

DOES HE PREFER THE ADVANTAGE OR HAVING TO COME BACK?

“I prefer being on the side with the advantage. After the 4-0, we already saw how they responded at home. We expect a difficult and complex match.”

FIRST VICTORY AT CAMP NOU

“It makes me happy because of the players’ effort. Today we were able to deliver an important performance and, with humility, we know it will be a tough match at home. We had never won at Camp Nou. It’s very difficult. This is possibly the best team in Europe along with PSG and Bayern. Through strong collective work, we were able to hurt them at the key moments of the match. The second goal gave us more confidence, and it’s a shame we couldn’t hurt them a bit more with the advantage they had last week and that we had today.”

GREAT EFFICIENCY

“I could tell you a thousand things about matches where we took 30 shots and didn’t score. Football is wonderful because being clinical is key. Today we were extremely clinical. On other nights, we weren’t.”

MATCH ANALYSIS

“We knew what they created with their high line. We’ve been working on it well. We hurt them in almost every match with situations like that. Goals and plays we were creating. It was difficult because they press very well and take your time away. Of their last 23 matches, they won 22 and scored in every one. Every time you come here, it’s difficult. We were brave in taking advantage of this game situation. That good understanding between Julián and Giuliano. Then Sørloth, being Alex, always ready for anything that falls his way. Total clinical edge. A good result, but against an opponent that will surely make us suffer on Tuesday.”

SECOND LEG

“They know me. We know who we’re up against. We’re prepared to play the match. They also know who they’re going to face. We’ll try to play a good match. We need our people a lot. More than ever. We need them to be strong and push us on in a match that will be complex.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.