Diego Simeone explains Thomas Lemar exclusion for Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone explained the reasoning for excluding club record signing Thomas Lemar against his old side Monaco.

The French international only made the bench for Los Rojiblancos on Tuesday night, with Angel Correa preferred in attack.

“Correa has been at the club for four years and is more accustomed to our style of play,” Simeone explained in his post-match press conference.

“I thought that because of the profile of the match and the opponent, he would be a perfect fit for the attack.

“Thomas Lemar knows that earning a spot in the first team is very difficult and he will have to work extremely hard, but he is a big player for our future.

“The game was tough, it was a difficult pitch against a difficult opponent which became even harder when we fell behind, but the reaction was excellent.

“Our team played very well, I liked the attacking link between Griezmann and Costa.”

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