Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone admits “losing two finals is a failure” as he rued “seeing the hurt of the people who’ve paid to come here”.
Atleti lost a second Champions League final to Madrid in three years as they could not follow up Yannick Carrasco’s late equaliser with a triumph on penalties, Los Blancos going on to win 5-3 in the shootout, and a gracious Simeone struggled to hold back his anguish after the game.
“It puts a lot of years on you. Firstly, congratulations to Real Madrid – once again they were superior to us, this time at penalties,” the Coach told UEFA.com.
“We started the game badly, then we got ourselves organised from the 20th minute. In the second half we could have equalised very quickly but our intention was clear.
“I don’t know which defeat hurts the most. What really hurts me is to see the hurt of the people who’ve paid to come here – I feel a bit responsible that I wasn’t able to give them what they wanted. That’s what really hurts.
He added to the Spanish media: “It’s clear that no-one remembers who finishes second. Losing two finals is a failure and the best team always win.
“Madrid were the best team because they won, and we couldn’t solve [the game] in the penalty shootout. It’s time for me to think.
“[On his future], I’m only thinking about thinking, nothing more than that.”
