Simeone hails ‘courageous’ Atleti

Diego Simeone has hailed Atletico Madrid for showing “the will, enthusiasm and initiative” to emerge with a 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.

Late goals from Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann earned Los Colchoneros all three points at Vallecas, having been frustrated for much of the encounter by Yoel Rodriguez between the sticks, and the Coach concluded “courage is always having the will to win”.

“Courage is always having the will to win,” he said after the game.

“We kept the will, enthusiasm and initiative to continue going [for the win].

“The changes aided our search of [the win] speaks highly of the group.

“We failed to take the chances we created in the first half.

“For me, problems arise when you don’t create anything.

“The other is when you create chances but are denied by goalkeeper, and Rayo’s [goalkeeper] was one of their best players, especially in the first half.

“We continued to create chances due to the players we have, but our goals come from all over the pitch. This time, it was Correa and we’re happy for him.

“At the start of the second half, I thought Rayo were on top, so I changed to a midfield three.

“That gave us the link to attack that we were missing. Our first goal came from a move which Thomas initiated.

“[On loaning out Thomas Partey], that’s more of a question for our sports management.

“We’re always thinking about what’s best for the team and it’s always best to think about everyone.

“Augusto [Fernandez]’s arrival will give us more options, in the same way that Thomas has.

“Having more players arrive halfway through a long season isn’t bad at all.

“[2015] has been an important year, in which we came to meet our objectives of last season, qualifying for the Champions League again and having a good season in the Champions League.

“We’re still on track [for meeting our objectives this season] with two games of the first round [of fixtures] left.”

Tags Diego Simeone
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