The coach of Atlético de Madrid, Diego Simeone, congratulated Athletic Club for the Copa del Rey match between both teams tonight in San Mamés, in which the Argentine coach admitted that the rivals “Today they were better.”
“It’s a team that I like, strong people who hold the ball well, who fight for all the balls. They compete very well. Maybe they didn’t deserve to win at the Metropolitano, but today they were better than us“, he said in the press conference after a clash in which he highlighted the Williams brothers, authors of the first two goals of the final 3-0.
“They were not counterattack goals in space, it was not a question of speed but of ability to win the duel. From Wiliams against Mario (Hermoso) and from the other Williams (Nico) anticipating the defenders. That’s mental speed, not running speed. They resolved the plays they had in attack quickly, they worked very well“Simeone explained.
El Cholo, regarding his team, assured that he is “worried about improving forcefulness in both areas” because “when you lack it it is more difficult.” “Reality happens within the areas and we have to be stronger because we have the players to do it (in defense). And calmly in attack, we trust in all the players we have,” he added.
Simeone regretted how the match developed. “We had three situations that we could have resolved better and we didn’t resolve them. They scored a goal in the first one, and in the second one too and it became more difficult.. And with the enthusiasm of 2-0 they did better in the game until 3-0. Then there was a double chance for Riquelme, but We were never able to get into the game or have offensive force. “We have to look ahead to Sunday’s game and keep working.”he continued.
In any case, he wanted “Congratulate your opponent because they did well and deserved to win”. “And we are going to work and think about Betis,” he assumed.
Regarding the atmosphere of San Mamés, he said that “it is very similar to that of the Metropolitano.” “It is a very close stadium, the people with their team have always been like that. The Bilbao fans have had strong support for their players and in this stadium they tend to be very strong“, he valued.
2024-03-01 01:51:06
#Today
