“At the break we said: ‘If you have to lose, let it be with pride’

Simeone attended the media very emotional after Atlético’s spectacular comeback against Valencia.

What a crazy comeback…

It is easy to tell what was seen. A first time in which we are not us, they took two shots at us and it was two goals. We didn’t get to play the match we wanted. We arrive at rest and in despair, anxiety, sadness…. If you had to lose, you had to lose with pride, with courage… if we scored a goal, the people would take us back to what happened. Any other club, its people, in the second half, after the first one we did, would have criticized and would have hurt twice as much. A second half of Atlético was seen.

Until 1-2 it was a team and from then on the intensity of the team changes.

Some did not understand the change of Felipe, for Joao, we needed a man from the area and fast people behind like Felipe to support the rival’s counterattacks… We have De Paul, who ignited the creativity of putting him on the right with Correa. We played in rival fields, with defensive strength and with two area forwards, with people on the wings like Carrasco and Correa, who had a wonderful second half. The team insisted, worked, it was us.

In the first half the team was very nervous, they needed to win.

This will give us the opportunity to learn. Two opposite facets of what is happening to us this year were seen. We went out with a lot of effort. Hopefully from this dynamic of beating Rayo, drawing with Villarreal, we tied a very tough game, hopefully this gives us the strength to work and know that we are the ones in the second half.

Why doesn’t the team play like that in the second half?

The coach doesn’t put everyone he put in the second half all together.

People did not understand the changes.

Changes are what you feel. I felt that if we were looking for the game as a result of having two strikers, with people from outside who could shoot crosses and strengthen the defense with Felipe, we were going to be in the game. We were lucky but what I could transmit in the changes happened. I felt that the place I am in is wonderful. Every time he leaves I want to hold him tighter. My heart ached in the first half.

How much football does Atlético have?

What is soccer? What is playing well? It is an internal struggle. Football is football and you have to interpret the place where you are. The more players interpret it, the closer we are to winning. You can lose, but you have to lose with pride.

Previously attended Movistar LaLiga

Spectacular comeback. “A first half that we did not do well. There were two shots from them and two goals, but we did not generate or cause anything that we wanted to play. We talked at half-time about what the team has been over the years and we said: ‘If you have to lose, let it be with pride’. The team left its soul, the people were very important, another club would have whistled, the team would not have been supported and surely it would have been another painful defeat. The people were, support and came a wonderful victory.

Change in the second part. “We played the match we had to play in the second half. Much fewer passes, but much more specific and football is forceful. We ended up attacking with Suárez, Correa, Cunha and Carrasco and defending with De Paul on the right side, Hermoso on the left… but there are times when the positions don’t matter, but the energy does. Without being pure full-backs, they played an extraordinary game”.

Exit difficulties. “The first half was totally different, dull, a team that did not have fluidity, that did not generate risky situations, lost it very easily, did not solve the defensive phase well and the opposite throughout the second half. It will be good for us, that second half we were able to be a team”.

Intention in the changes. “Everything that was proposed in the second half. We went from less to more. We thought we needed Felipe to stop the counterattack and sustain our attack and he held it well with Giménez and we went for the attack. It is one of those afternoons that remain”.

Inflection point. “The team comes out stronger, we continue in the good dynamics in the League and it will help us to work well these days and face the match against Barcelona with great enthusiasm”.