Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praises team’s resilience in his first win at Barcelona

BARCELONA – Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone highlighted his side’s resilience after they beat Barcelona 2-1 and climbed atop La Liga on Dec 21 with their 12th straight win in all competitions.

Simeone acknowledged Barca were the better side for much of the game and highlighted his players’ fighting spirit after they rallied from a goal down to pick up their first victory away to the Catalan side since 2006, five years before his arrival at the club.

“I’m very happy with the team’s effort. We were humble enough to suffer and to defend against a team that play very well. In the first half and I think until our goal, they were far superior to us,” Simeone told reporters.

“Then I think we started to find our feet a bit in the game, and we saw that we could compete in the game. The team managed to hold on.”

Barcelona took the lead after 30 minutes, with Pedri both the architect and scorer of the goal.

The Spain midfielder burst forward with the ball and fed Gavi, who tried to turn and inadvertently nudged the ball back to the surging Pedri, who entered the box and slotted past goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

On the hour mark, Atletico were level after Marc Casado’s misguided back-heel clearance fell to Rodrigo de Paul on the edge of the area and the Argentinian midfielder netted his third goal in his last four league games.

Deep in stoppage time, Nahuel Molina crossed for regular super-sub Alexander Sorloth to blast home and ensure Atletico will be top of the pile at Christmas.

“It’s inexplicable... we had the game in our hands and we didn’t take advantage,” said Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi.

Pedri added: “It’s truly a tough defeat to take. When you don’t finish a game, this is what can happen.

“We have the break now to reset mentally and physically.”

Simeone pointed to his substitutes as the key to claiming the hard-fought victory against a Barcelona side who are now second, three points off the pace, having played a game more.

The Argentinian coach took off talisman Antoine Griezmann and brought on Sorloth up front in the 73rd minute, a decision that paid off as the Norwegian scored a last-gasp winner after a counter-attack.

“That’s what a team is, when one player comes off and another player comes on and gives a response,” Simeone said.

“We took Griezmann off early, which is difficult for me, but I knew that Sorloth had something that could make us come out from the back to hold the ball.

“I think the substitutions gave us strength. Some attacking situations you can find on the counter-attack – an exquisite play, a great goal by Sorloth that gave us the chance to win a very difficult game.”

Simeone also praised Oblak after his saves prevented Barca from extending their lead after the break.

“We have a great goalkeeper who played a defining role in the match,” he said.

Barca have now gone three games without a La Liga win, having picked up five points out of a possible 21, suffering defeats by Leganes and Las Palmas in their previous two home games.

Despite their first home defeat against Atletico in 18 years, coach Hansi Flick said they put on a good performance and expected the winter break to help them regain their early-season form.

“Today it was unbelievable how we played,” Flick told reporters. “Maybe this break came at the right time.

“I appreciate how we played. But we have to learn from these things. Losing nine points is not normal and we have to work on it.”

“The points lost against Las Palmas and Leganes are in the past. We will show after the break how strong we are. We are very disappointed with the defeat, but life goes on.”

Earlier on Dec 21, Athletic Bilbao beat Osasuna 2-1 to tighten their grip on fourth place. REUTERS, AFP