Diego Simeone, the coach of Atletico Madrid, expressed his delight at securing qualification for the Champions League knockout stage with one game still left to play in the group phase after their 3-1 away win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam on Tuesday. Atletico remained top of Group E on 11 points after winning away in the competition for the first time since beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in March 2022. This victory also guaranteed a berth in the last 16 for Lazio, who advanced to 10 points after beating Celtic in Rome earlier in the day, and eliminated Feyenoord from the race.
Simeone praised the team’s performance, describing it as “an offensively correct and defensively effective match,” with “very good positional play” that created difficulty for the opponent. He also highlighted the significance of their first goal, which resulted from a strange own goal by Feyenoord.
The own goal occurred when no one in Feyenoord’s penalty box attempted to clear a looping ball into the danger area, resulting in it bouncing in off defender Lutsharel Geertruida after 14 minutes. In the second half, Atletico extended their lead to 2-0 through a goal by Mario Hermoso, before Feyenoord initiated a fight back with a goal from Mats Wieffer. However, Atletico quickly restored their two-goal advantage with another own goal by Feyenoord.
Simeone expressed his satisfaction at qualifying for the round of 16 with an advance date, highlighting the team’s ability to manage their progress well in a tightly contested group. When asked about Atletico’s prospects in the Champions League, Simeone emphasized a humble approach, stating, “We are here to compete with whoever we have to compete with. With humility and wanting to improve, we know our defects and from there we try to enhance our virtues.”
With the opportunity to enhance their options for the draw on Dec. 18 by finishing top of the group, Atletico only need a draw at home to Lazio on Dec. 13 to ensure that. Simeone stressed the importance of finishing as high as possible, noting that the team had not reached the last 16 with such tranquility for years.
These statements were made by Simeone at the post-match press conference. The report was written by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town and edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan.
