Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone called for his team to continue moving forwards after they secured a 2-1 victory over Deportivo Alavés on Saturday afternoon, insisting that his team is not yet at their best.
“I still think the same thing: we’re a work in progress,” he responded. “We’re in the process of finding the players who are adapting to what Atlético Madrid is all about and what it takes to go down in Atlético Madrid’s history.”
The coach insisted that despite the win, “there’s one level
required to play for Atlético Madrid, and another level required to go down in history, and well, hopefully we’ll be able to move in that direction.”
Diego Simeone on goals by defenders
“It’s always important that the goal comes from wherever it comes from, as long as it comes. But I think that, beyond Grimaldo’s goal and Cuti’s goal, the team, in the first half, took control of the game, tried different approaches, held their ground well against their attack, and played well. We ended up tied 1-1 on the penalty kick at the end of the first half, which didn’t seem like enough given how we were playing. In the second half, they defended very well and played with great discipline. As the game went on, I think we kept pressing in various situations and in different ways—with Baena, Kang-in, Giuliano, Sørloth, and Julián. Well, that was until the red card, and obviously after that, it felt like the game had already shifted—it seemed like it wouldn’t be a problem, but it actually got even harder because the opponent retreated even further, and it might seem easier since we were down a man. But anyway, the opponent turns up the pressure, and you have to find a way. I think we tried everything we could to score. The goal speaks for itself: Baena sending in the cross, and Hancko, Cuti, and Sørloth all getting on the end of it in the same play, allowing us to win a game we wanted and needed.”
Simeone on the importance of pushing to the death
“Yes, because obviously when you do things right, you’re closer to winning, but there are times when you do things very well and still can’t win, as I was telling you in the first half. In the first half, we played very well, but a goal from another game that was being played at the same time came into play, even though the penalty was a penalty, it was from another game. So we had to bounce back immediately from that situation which can happen and try to continue playing the way we did in the second half, managing the players in the best way possible so they could keep delivering good plays, whether it was Kang-in and Baena, Sørloth, Julián, Hancko… And well, we kept giving the team more options.”
Simeone on what he liked most about the team
“The response from everyone who came on from the 16 who had the chance to play today because they all went out in pursuit of what we wanted. We planned the match to be played the way it was, and we stuck to that plan. The truth is, it worked out well because we scored the goal, but even if we’d drawn the game, the message I’m sharing with you wouldn’t have changed much. That said, a win is more valuable than a draw.”
Simeone on the importance of away form and winning at Alavés like in 2020/21
“Yes, I think so, absolutely. I think it’s kind of what you’re saying. Speaking of momentum, I remember the goal, there was a game we won 2–1 late in the match, remember? A goal by Suárez or João, a cross from João on the left late in the game. Suárez, right? At the far post. That game… I don’t remember many games we’ve won comfortably, once with Thomas Partey, a shot from outside the box. But the others have always been tough; they’ve always been well-played, back-and-forth, very competitive, with a lot of challenges, and I think today the team played with a sense of purpose, from the start of the match until the end, in attacking, and it worked out well.”
