Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone, has hailed three of his players for giving the team “energy” during their Champions League quarter-final second leg 2-1 defeat against Barcelona at Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday.
The three players are Nico González, Álex Baena, and Alexander Sørloth.
Recall that Simeone watched as goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres gave Barcelona the lead before Ademola Lookman netted a goal for the hosts.
Atletico progress to the Champions League semi-final stage on a 3-2 aggregate victory, having won 2-0 in the first leg.
“The second half was more balanced. Bringing on Nico, Baena, and Sørloth gave us energy, and they (Barcelona) started to lose that speed, leaving the crosses for Araujo and Lewandowski,” Simeone said at his post-match interview after the game.
“We have been evolving for years. We’re clear about what we want. We attack better than we defend! So we have to attack. There’s no other way.”