Atlético Madrid left it late to secure a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad in San Sebastián on Sunday night, but they did so in style, with coach Diego Simeone praising the impact of the second-half substitutions.
“Well, the match lasts 90 minutes,” Simeone began. “It happened to us, both in Liverpool and in Bilbao, that we played an extraordinary first half and still lost 3-0 in Bilbao. Honestly, when the match ended, it didn’t seem like that. But in the end, the match is long; there are different phases
and moments.
“Real Sociedad did a great job of pressuring the combination play that Álex Baena and Kang-in Lee could create, especially when they were playing with their backs to goal and that obviously caused us to be pinned back and lack depth in the first half. I think in the first half they had, if I’m not mistaken, possibly two dangerous chances and we also had two dangerous chances, one by Kang-in and one by Morten Hjulmand, but neither side had anything that looked like it was going to result in a goal. We felt comfortable with how we were playing.
“In the second half, the substitutions gave us more intensity in midfield, more strength to maintain our attacking rhythm and depth, with Jonathan David and Johnny Cardoso coming on in the middle to inject more pace into the midfield. Koke gave us that calmness that’s also needed. Then Arnau Ortiz came on, continuing to add firepower to the team’s offense just as Real was getting tired. They didn’t create any significant chances against us.
“The penalty went our way, allowing us to take the lead and then, honestly, the second goal was a real stunner. A finish with incredible composure, and Giuliano Simeone’s third goal was the same. A run in the 92nd minute from midfield against three defenders is something only a few can pull off.”
Diego Simeone on the performance matching the result
“It all goes hand in hand because it’s very difficult to win without playing well. Winning without being decisive, winning without capitalizing on the moments in the game that go your way. This time we took advantage of the moments in the game that went our way, and we were decisive in a significant way, finishing the match on a very strong note.”
Simeone on Atlético’s defensive improvement
“The defensive aspect is extremely important. Every team tries to establish that sense of security, which is sometimes impossible because the players are so good and always end up finding ways to cause damage. But I’ll go back to those stretches of the game that go your way or don’t. In Bilbao, those five minutes of losing focus cost us the game. Today, the penalty in our favor plus Jonathan David’s goal put us on the right track. If the game had ended with a different result, people would have asked why I took out Álex Baena and Kang-in Lee. But it’s part of your job, and part of mine, to stick with what you believe in, and today it worked out in our favor because Johnny Cardoso came on very well and brought more energy. Morten Hjulmand has more pace, but Koke gave the team more composure to push forward, which is what we were saying about Jonathan David and what I was telling you about Arnau Ortiz.”
Simeone on whether the game was decided by better finishing
“No, I don’t see it that way. I see that we intelligently capitalized on the phases of the game that went our way and we were able to play a strong match, even though we struggled in the first half, as we had to. They didn’t create many scoring chances against us, but we struggled because we weren’t comfortable in the game. In the second half, we went from weak to strong, improving as the game went on.”
Simeone on a three-man defence and internal competition
“Well, time will tell. It’s clear that our work, whether with Cristian Romero or Dávid Hancko, was a huge effort. We’d wanted him for a year; then Dávid Hancko came the following year, if you remember. We wanted Cristian Romero last year; he was able to join us this year. The club made an incredible effort to bring in key players, and Marc Pubill has earned the spot he holds. There’s a lot of competition for that position, and let’s hope we can always get the best out of that competition for the good of the team.”
Simeone on Alejandro Grimaldo’s performance
“Same thing, we talked a lot today before the game. He’s a nice guy with a great personality, and I explained a bit about what we needed from him, what we thought of him, and luckily today the game went the way he surely wanted it to, and we did, too.”
Simeone on Jonathan David and his first goal
“I spoke with him before the game as well, obviously explaining why Kang-in Lee and Ademola Lookman were starting, because they’ve obviously been playing more often and he’s only been here a short time. It was only this week that we were able to train properly; he trained very well during the week and I also congratulated him on that work, telling him that we were going to need him and that he shouldn’t switch off or think that just because he wasn’t starting he wouldn’t get any playing time, and that he should be ready. And he said to me: ‘I’m feeling great.‘ He came on, worked hard, added depth to the team and, above all, finished with admirable composure.”
