After a crucial away win at Estadio La Cartuja, Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone was full of praise for his team as they secured a 2-0 victory over Real Betis, courtesy of goals from Giuliano Simeone and
Álex Baena.
Simeone was keen to look to the future as he said, “I’ll take today’s game, the past is behind us now” before analysing the result in more detail.
“The team played very well, a great first half, we went in 2-0 up,” he said. “It could have been more, although it’s true that Oblak made a great save from Abde.
“We went into the break feeling that the team was playing very well. In the second half, we didn’t have the same clarity as in the first and couldn’t get that third goal that seemed to be coming on the counterattack.” Simeone continued. “We were up against a team that plays and attacks, they made a very offensive change, they had a lot of chances in the box, but we managed to keep a clean sheet, which was difficult, and it’s a necessary and important victory for the table and for the team.”
Diego Simeone on consecutive clean sheets with Josema Giménez
“He’s an important player for us, we’ve always said that. He’s necessary when he’s on form and we need him to be like this.”
Diego Simeone on Atleti’s best first half away from home
“No. I think we had a very good first half against Espanyol and Mallorca, but we didn’t score. Today was another important first half, with chances to score, beyond the two goals. Julián and Nico had chances and we could have had a more important result. … When you play with conviction, it brings you closer to victory.”
Diego Simeone on Pablo Barrios’ injury
“We’ll know between tomorrow and the day after. He had a problem with his groin and we’ll see what it is.”
Diego Simeone on the importance of an away win
“I give them the importance they deserve. Winning away, as we have sought to do in other matches, but couldn’t. We must continue in this vein and think about Saturday’s match (against Sevilla).”
Diego Simeone on taking off Julián and Baena at the same time
“They came off one by one. (Alexander) Sørloth for Julián, a fresh striker with the possibility of counterattacks. And Griezmann for Baena, who had played a very good game. So that Antoine could see things the same way. We had situations that we could have handled better, but they did their job so that the team could keep a clean sheet with their energy and hard work.”
Diego Simeone on the result
“I’m happy because the team played a very good first half, above all. We could have gone into the break with a bigger lead. We also had a great save from (Jan) Oblak down to his right. We couldn’t get that third goal that would have given us some breathing space, and we ended up having to dig deep. It was a great team effort, both from those who started and those who came on later.”
Diego Simeone on Giuliano’s performance and goal
“He did great work. I’m sure he was happy about his nephew being born, and he dedicated the goal to Faustino.”
Diego Simeone on whether being a grandfather has changed his perspective
“No, for me everything is the same. Nothing has changed.”
Diego Simeone on Álex Baena
“He has something different: lightning-fast transitions, vision, goals, great shooting… We have to encourage him to keep improving, because we want to get even more out of him. He has much more than we’ve seen. We’ll work to raise his level.”
Diego Simeone on the clean sheet
“Extremely important. It gives us the confidence to close out games and play with that solidity. We needed this win; it was very important for the standings.”
