Simeone vindicates Lodi: “He thought it was his turn to leave in January”

Atletico feeling: “Happiness. A lot of people working to make things go well, a lot of people involved to get out of this irregular moment we had, which has been changing from Osasuna. I’m excited to see a team that has no shame. At the start of the game it was clear that in any counterattack we could hurt. We have a brilliant collective work, it leaves me with joy”

system change: “There is no one who hasn’t stopped working. We started with 5-3-2, on the wings we were always missing one and that’s why we changed to 5-4-1 with Griezmann on the right, who made a great effort. Joao , Lodi, Herrera, Rodrigo… The defense has been brilliant. Oblak has given us peace of mind again”.

the scorer: “Lodi is very good, at any moment he will score a goal from a direct free kick, you’ll see. He’s eager, enthusiastic, he thought Reinildo was coming and it was his turn to come out. Carrasco’s sanction…”.

Reaction: “The team from Osasuna shows another spirit, another strength. It is something important”.

game by game: “We know what the path is, we think of the League. We give this victory to its president in his thousand official games. Winning in Manchester is not easy. Our memories go to the people who will now go home, but we will always have that memory” .

at a press conference

-It’s been a long time since you’ve seen such a solid version behind Atlético…

-It was a stable match, the start reminded us of the match against Juventus with lateral crosses. We changed with Griezmann on the right, with the recovery of the ball he already showed an opportunity to do damage. He came the goal offside, which confirmed the options were going to be. In the second half we controlled the game, we took it to the place where we felt most comfortable. We played on the counterattack, the rival knows that we played well on the counterattack… The changes were hardly even to be done because there was a very even job by everyone.

-Would any player in particular stand out?

-It was not only a general effort… I want to make it clear that the team knew what they had to do. They have great individuals, they all entered very well but a little messy to generate pressure at the start… We knew we could play with spaces. We suffered and once again we are among the top eight in Europe and this is extraordinary for the club after winning the League.

-It took a lot to get to where the team is now….

-Following what they say, we are in an irregular season, it is difficult to be champion at Atlético, but from Osasuna the talk we had appeared, that moment of decision-making and from there there is a group that if there is a swimming pool strip. Then if there is water or not….

-What happened after the match was incredible…

-I believe in work, in the day to day, in the effort, in giving everything until the last moment. That’s how I deal with life. To continue with the same humility, work, give everything without expecting anything.

-I don’t know if you remember someone for which you have been criticized…

-It would be very easy now to say things to generate controversy. I’m not that style. I care about doing well and working. There are people who work well and are not seen, who push so that everything goes well… It has cost us much more, it has been seen, but now we have to try the most difficult thing, which is to sustain this moment with work and commitment…

-Your opinion of the United match?

-Manchester competes well since their coach arrived and has improved a lot. We found an Atlético very tough, very difficult, they said in the previous one that we didn’t like the ball, we found attacking situations to be more forceful.