Simeone: Atletico Madrid can compete with Barcelona, Bayern and Real Madrid

Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid should be
considered among the current greats of European
football after reaching the semi-finals of the
Champions League for the third time in four years
under his leadership.
Last season's beaten finalists booked a place in
the last four of the competition with a hard-fought
1-1 draw at Leicester City on Tuesday, progressing
2-1 on aggregate after goals from Saul and Jamie
Vardy on the night.
Simeone hailed the competitive spirit of his side
and suggested that if Atletico Madrid were richer
they would be on the same level as Spanish rivals
Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as Bayern
Munich.
"When you talk about the greats of Europe you
have to put an economic and financial slant on
things," Simeone told reporters. "The greats are
Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid.
"But from a sporting point of view we are definitely
competitive. When I say we are not one of the
greats I mean in that sense, not in a sporting
sense.
"It is great to be in the semi-finals for the third
time in four years. Looking back at the first day I
arrived at the club, I said my desire was to make
Atletico Madrid competitive against every team we
played against. It is satisfying now to say we are a
competitive outfit.
3 - Atlético Madrid have reached the
semis of the #UCL for the third time in
the last four seasons. Simeone.
pic.twitter.com/Ed2UVkNCBY
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 18, 2017
"First and foremost I'm full of emotion. I'm full of
pride at the performance of my team and full of
hopes and excitement as we progress in the
competition.
"What a great performance from our competitors
from Leicester tonight. It was a pleasure to
compete against them. They never let their heads
drop. We were living in fear all night and they
pushed us all the way."
IN THE SEMIS
We are among Europe’s best after great
TEAMWORK and thanks to the support of
the FANS! #GoAtleti pic.twitter.com/
PxoiSeDuCi
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)
April 18, 2017
Victory for Atletico Madrid came at a cost as Filipe
Luis suffered a hand injury and Juanfran damaged
his right thigh, with Simeone suggesting that
having to take off the two defenders made his team
more effective at the back.
"What we managed to do was almost reinvent
ourselves during the game. We were involved in a
tough situation," Simeone added. "[Jose] Gimenez
played in the middle of midfield where people
wouldn't expect him to. We played in the way this
match needed us to perform. We always come up
with a solution.
86' | 1-1 | MEDICAL REPORT
@Juanfrantorres suffers a sprain in the
rectus femoris of the right
quadriceps #LeicesterAtleti
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)
April 18, 2017
"I don't like to praise too much but today we did
respond and played in the way that we needed to.
The changes the Leicester manager [Craig
Shakespeare] made were fantastic. They really
changed the second half, even if we had a chance
with [Antoine] Griezmann and [Yannick] Carrasco to
kill the game.
"What they did really well when they went to a
three is they managed to get a lot of people down
the wings and get crosses in. [Leonardo] Ulloa did
a great job in the area. The defence I ended with
was perhaps more effective at combating the
Leicester threat than the one that started the
second half.
90' | 1-1 | MEDICAL REPORT @filipeluis
suffers an injury to the IV metacarpal
bone of the right hand #LeicesterAtleti
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)
April 18, 2017
"Tonight we have seen a fantastic game of football.
Everything that we said before the match, both
teams have lived up to that. Leicester have fought
as hard as they could, we have also. There was
end-to-end football, both teams taking a risk. In
terms of the way forward for ourselves, we are just
going to keep trying and trying and insisting and
keeping going."