Diego Simeone has said the responsibility for Atletico Madrid’s heavy Copa del Rey defeat to Real Madrid lies with him.
Atleti were beaten 5-0 on aggregate by Los Blancos, losing 3-0 at Santiago Bernabeu and 2-0 at Vicente Calderon.
Simeone told his post-match Press conference that he had a game plan to overturn the three-goal deficit but it didn’t pan out as he envisioned.
“When you lose 3-0 it’s difficult to get four goals,” El Cholo told reporters.
“We tried to recover the ball in the midfield and on the wings with [Javier] Manquillo and [Emiliano] Insua but it didn’t work as imagined and the responsibility is mine.”
Simeone added that while the defeat hurts, in the bigger picture Atleti’s Cup consistency should be considered impressive.
“After losing you are never happy. The group is upset and that’s normal.
“But last year we won the Cup and this year we got to the semi-finals. We can always do better but we were competitive, not bad.
“There were moments that turned the tie in favour of Madrid. At the Bernabeu we let in two goals with deflections and here we gave away two early penalties.
“They were decisive because neither team had a lot of chances. If you give away two penalties in five minutes, it gets complicated.”
Simeone however praised his players for their second half performance when despite the score line, they refused to give up the tie.
“I enjoyed the reaction in the second half. It’s not easy to know that the tie is lost and play the way they did.
“This game shows us a lot of things and I value the players and knowing how to lose. The way we lost in the second half brings us closer to what we want.”
