Diego Simeone has heaped praise upon his Atletico Madrid side after they edged past Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League final for the second time in the last three seasons.
Advertisement
Spanish football club Atletico Madrid chief coach Diego Simeone has expressed his pride in having reached the final of the Champions League, after “having left behind two of the three best (teams) in the world”.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Spain, Bayern levelled the tie through Xabi Alonso’s deflected free-kick.
There was similar drama in the second half when Manuel Neuer saved Fernando Torres’ late penalty attempt for Atletico.
The Spanish capital club eliminated Bayern Munich in the semi-finals on away goals to meet local rivals Real Madrid in this month’s Milan showpiece but their style has had its critics.
“We tried our best and played as well as we could”. If Real Madrid progress to the final, it will be a repeat of the Champions League final 2014.
“He came after Heynckes who won it all, hence Guardiola could only emulate his success”.
Cape Town – Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm revealed his disappointment at not making the Champions League final, but doesn’t think there was much more they could have done. “We failed to get the goals at the right time”. Manchester City may have something to say about that when they face the Spaniards in the Bernabeu.
The match official later awarded Atletico a penalty for a foul that had occurred outside the box, leading to a disappointed Rummenigge to insist that the referee had got key decisions wrong. We coped with the pressure that they put on us. Then, we saw a formidable team and had little response to the situations they proposed. I can just tell you that I gave everything for my players. We had a great opponent in front of us and we had to both defend and try to score.
Responding to the criticism, Guardiola said after the Atletico game: “I have given my life for this team, I have fought and given my best”.
Advertisement
“It’s a bitter result that we haven’t been able to reward ourselves and the coaching staff for the work over the last three years”, he said.
