MADRID, 13 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Atlético de Madrid, Diego Pablo Simeone, said this Saturday that, for him and those who live “from football”, these dates “are very beautiful, tense weeks, with pressure, with responsibility, with enthusiasm and with the desire to things happen”, in reference to the 3-1 victory of his pupils against Girona FC on matchday 31 of LaLiga EA Sports.
“I have celebrated a lot that everyone who could help in the game was committed to what is happening to us. For those of us who make a living from football, these are very beautiful, tense weeks, with pressure, with responsibility, with enthusiasm and with the desire for them to pass.” things. And for that you have to give yourself and then let it be what it has to be,” said ‘Cholo’ Simeone in a press conference from the Cívitas Metropolitano.
In this sense, I confess what I thought when I saw the 0-1 score in the 4th minute. “That they had started well, that the first play they had was a goal. We rearranged ourselves during the 20 minutes from a better position to be able to put pressure on them, to to be closer to them and to win more duels, something that had not happened in the first 15 or 20 minutes,” he said.
“From then on, the penalty favored the wave and the positive energy. The second was a great goal… and we controlled the second half from the beginning to the end,” summarized the Argentine coach about the mattress comeback in a duel vital for third place.
“We are going through this period with the people involved. Correa went from less to more playing a pretty good, important game, with personality, transmitting good energy for everything he did; Morata came in well, Riquelme also went from less to more, Mario [Hermoso] He came back from his injury very well and that gives us more possibilities for everything we have left,” Simeone argued from the press room.
He also praised Antoine Griezmann, scorer of two goals against Girona. “We are happy with all the work Antoine did. It seemed to me that, despite the effort he had made in the Champions League match, today I saw him much looser, much more like him. We need him like this, he is the most important player we have and Obviously we want him to be able to give us everything he has in this final,” said Atlético’s Argentine coach.
Meanwhile, Simeone stressed his position after the victory. “The other day I think Ancelotti explained it, if I’m not mistaken, that he said that winning is peace of mind; no more than that, because we are in a place where we are continually exposed. The older we get, instead of being calmer, the responsibility grows even more,” he commented on the matter.
“And well, it is a moment of tranquility because three very important points were obtained. We are now four points behind Girona and with possibilities, depending on how we do, of fighting for that place. And… to Borussia Dortmund, which we have there around the corner,” warned the ‘Cholo’.
He also spoke about his change in system. “I always believe that the systems do not matter, but the ability to interpret how to play in each system matters. Obviously today it was difficult for us to interpret it as we wanted at the beginning,” he admitted about the change from 4-4-2 to 5-3 -2.
“The first play they had was a goal, then there was no continuous sequence of attack; but it is also true that from the positioning we used later, we were closer and recovered balls later. That was good for us and then each player who was coming in as if he was adding energy to the team,” he stressed.
In this context, he highlighted that “energy” along with “work” and “discipline” to find “traction to what was needed.” “I think that in the second half we were also able to extend this goal situation. That of Molina, that of Morata, that of Lino… that we could have resolved them better,” he lamented in regard to three good scoring opportunities.
Despite beating a direct rival, Simeone was cautious. “We have to look at both sides. Because Bilbao is very good, they have just won the Copa del Rey, they are very enthusiastic. We will see how they respond tomorrow and from there the game against us remains, so pay close attention to those who They are below and we will see if we can continue looking to look at the one we have above,” he alluded again to Girona.
Finally, he praised the work of Saúl Ñíguez and his state of mind. “I think we were talking about it at different stages, when he made the statement telling what was happening to him. I already said what I think, they are feelings that he had and he wanted to tell them,” said the ‘Cholo’.
“After [llegó] the great moment last week in the League, when he scored the goal that made us win the game, and obviously his energy and enthusiasm surely improved,” Simeone recalled about the 1-2 win against Villarreal CF during matchday 30 in First division.
“Because when you score an important goal, you also feel more important for the future. Today he was doing well, the injury took him out of the game and I hope he can help us as he has always helped us,” Simeone concluded in his praise for Saul.