Diego Simeone continued his defence of Atletico Madrid’s performance against Real Madrid in the wake of Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Elche.
Los Colchoneros were accused by many media quarters of adopting ‘anti-football’ tactics in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie, which ended 1-0 to their arch-rivals, but the Coach insisted his side more than held their own in the match.
“We recovered [from our European elimination] quickly,” he said after the game at the Vicente Calderon, in which a brace from Antoine Griezmann – sandwiched by a Raul Garcia strike – fired Atleti past the struggling Valencians.
“In the League, we took a big step towards finishing among the best teams in Spain, possibly the best in Europe if [Real] Madrid and Barcelona reach the Champions League final.
“We competed very well [against Real Madrid] and were in the tie for 178 minutes, even if some people didn’t like our approach, but we bounced back with a great performance.
“[Fernando Torres did a] great job and [had a] good game. Beyond the specific numbers, I was convinced that [Griezmann] was a lethal player on the shoulder of the last man.
“I’m happy for him because he’s grown tremendously and it’s worked out for him here. It’s also credit on our part for persisting with him in that position [centre forward].”
