Diego Simeone believes his Atletico Madrid side played well despite their Copa del Rey exit to Girona “but I prefer to play badly and win.”
Los Rojiblancos failed to make the competition’s quarter-finals for the first time under the Argentine after Seydou Doumbia’s late goals saw Girona triumph 4-4 on away goals over the two legs.
“Often we play well and do not qualify, but I prefer to play badly and win,” Simeone admitted to reporters after the game, as reported by Marca.
“My players gave everything tonight, you can see that from the performance, and we put our maximum into winning this game.
“Despite our defeat I can appreciate the beauty of this game, it was a classic cup match and one between two very good sides.
“We took an early lead and should have furthered it more with other chances but we must congratulate Girona, who never gave up and who have punished us.”
