Manchester City's 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals generated a wave of repercussions due to Diego Simeone's approach that continues to make noise to this day. It is that Cholo chose to retreat in the background to counter the tenure strategy of Pep Guardiola's team and completed the 90 minutes without kicking the goal.
It was dozens of journalists, former European footballers and coaches who ranted against the Argentinian for carrying out that game plan and this Tuesday, one day ahead of the rematch to be held at the Wanda Metropolitano, the former Catania coach took the opportunity to answer them all.
“I train since 2005, 2006, until today and I was never contemptuous with a colleague of mine. Never. Because I always put myself in the place of the coaches I compete with. I understand that there are different ways to express what you feel, what you see and experience each game, but when you are despising a colleague, I don't share it,” he said. “Then, from journalists, former players, people who haven't played for a long time and want to say something different, we are as my father said, 'fish through the mouth dies'. The words are free and we can all have a say. But not among colleagues. Everyone has their own ways and I choose one: respect my colleagues always”.
Dean Saunders, former Welsh footballer for Liverpool, Aston Villa, Galatasaray and Benfica, called the style of Simeone as “parasite football”; Arrigo Sacchi, one of the best coaches in history, said that because of the way they play, Atlético “does not give you joy even when you win”; Van Basten, one of the last to join the criticism against Cholo, said that people prefer to watch Netflix rather than a match in which a team is betting on defending itself like this.
The funny thing here is that another one who spoke at this time at a press conference was Pep Guardiola, who defended the Argentine coach: “If he had won, he would not have been criticized. Here they criticize us when we lose. When we win everything works and that's it,” said the Spaniard, who continued: “What Atletico Madrid does it has done for a decade and it hasn't gone bad.”
Regarding what will be the match against Manchester City at the Metropolitan Wanda, Simeone anticipated that his approach will not be too far from what he did in England last week: “We are not going to stray too far from what we do, looking for the right times to create what we believe. Hopefully we can combine better, have faster transitions, take advantage of counterattacks with better precision, that footballers with our hierarchy can have a fantastic night... Anything can happen to a match.”
In this regard, he added: “It is clear that we are facing a team that plays very well, with a very good dynamic positional pace of play, with very fast transitions, with small spaces used in the best way, but we are excited. What we were able to generate the first leg with the result was exciting. It is clear that illusion is not enough, but with facts to take the party where we think we can hurt. And play. Words are of no use, but what happens after nine o'clock in the evening.”
Atlético is obliged to win the duel, otherwise it will be eliminated. Any victory by the slightest difference will stretch the definition to the lengthening and if it is for more goals, the Colchonero will seal his ticket to the Champions League semifinals where he will be measured against Chelsea or Real Madrid.
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