After suffering a 0-4 defeat away to Benfica in the Champions League, Atletico Madrid boss Simeone was candid in his post-match interview, saying that his team's poor performance was a result of poor decision-making on his part. He analyzed the problems in the match in detail and promised to learn from this loss and prepare for future matches.
Simeone began by congratulating his opponents, "Congratulations to Benfica, they played a good game and were very determined to capitalize on all our mistakes, they deserved to win." On his team's performance, he admitted: "It was a poor game for us, we didn't control the situation and our opponents strongly punished all our mistakes."
Addressing Oblak's point about his team not having much to show for this campaign, Simeone said, "I always think in the right direction, but this game was really unexpected. It's an opportunity to continue to improve, we've been doing a great job lately, but this was a game where we didn't play the way we wanted to."
On the decision to make three substitutions after half-time, Simeone admitted that it didn't have the desired effect: "The importance of Koke, Griezmann and De Paul was obvious, but we wanted more physicality and the ability to receive headers from crosses. However, that penalty came too early and we couldn't create a chance. This is my responsibility because we are the coaching team responsible for making these decisions."
In the interview, Simeone also revealed that he made a gesture to his players that seemed to say they were asleep. He recalled, "It might have, but I don't remember. But if you guys saw it, that's probably what it meant. We did lack some focus and urgency in the game."
On Atletico's punishment of closing part of the stands, Simeone said he accepted it, "We accept the decision of the governing body and this is a great opportunity for the club to grow. We need to learn from this experience and try to improve."
Speaking on how to explain the disastrous loss, Simeone emphasized, "We've been playing well lately, but today's scenes weren't what we were hoping for. You could see from the first half that it wasn't the game we envisioned. In the second half, that penalty made us completely lose control. None of the options we pursued today were good choices and that's on the coach."
On the impact of the depleted schedule and recent off-field controversies, Simeone said, "We don't make excuses, the person responsible is the coach. It was a poor performance by everyone and we must accept the reality. Let's try to regain our energy for Sunday's game."
Speaking about which was the bigger problem, the tempo or the tactics, Simeone admitted: "We played poorly and have to accept that. The substitutions didn't bring us the rewards we would normally get. We played poorly, our opponents played better and have to accept the reality."
In the end, Simeone said the loss was a warning: "We didn't lack tension, attitude or motivation to run, we just played badly. And when you play badly, you can lose. The opposition took all the chances we gave them and we played a bad game. But we will learn from this experience and try to improve."
In addition, Simeone mentioned the impact of Lenormand's absence on the team's defense: "There are some players who are special, who are different. Obviously Lenormand is such a player in our defense. All of us need to improve, it's always a collective thing. But I'm convinced that Robin (Lenormand) can help our defense in another way."
