Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone, has suggested that his team eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League quarter-final stage because his players put in a “huge effort” after going down 2-0 during the second leg tie at Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday.
According to him, Atletico managed to get back into the game by scoring a goal and stayed calm throughout the duration of the clash.
Lamine Yamal gave Barcelona the lead in the opening stage of the encounter before Ferran Torres doubled the visitors’ lead.
However, Ademola Lookman scored for the home side as the match eventually ended in a 2-1 win for Barcelona.
But the Catalan club was eliminated on a 3-2 aggregate defeat, having lost 2-0 in the first leg at Camp Nou last week.
Speaking at his post-match interview after the game, Simeone said, “We faced a team that plays extraordinarily well, with incredible speed.
“They are hard to contain. We put in a huge effort after going down 0-2, despite individual mistakes, and we managed to get back into the game and stay calm. Then the 1-2 was a great goal.”