Atletico put Bayern
MADRID: Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone hailed his side’s display as one of the best in his hugely successful five-year reign in charge as Yannick Carrasco inflicted another 1-0 defeat for Bayern Munich at the Vicente Calderon.
Simeone’s men also beat Bayern at home in April on their way to a second Champions League final in three years.
And the Argentine lauded Atletico’s tactical discipline as they secured an incredible 15th clean sheet and 14th win in 18 home Champions League games under Simeone.
“I feel so proud to be the coach of this team,” said Simeone.
“I liked everything today. We pressed high, took advantage of spaces on the counter-attack and played with intensity for 90 minutes which is very difficult to do against one of the best teams in the world. Tactically, the team interpreted the game fantastically. It was one of the best performances in my time at Atletico Madrid.”
Carrasco fired home the winner 10 minutes before half-time after Jan Oblak had denied Thomas Muller with a stunning save early on with Bayern’s best effort.
Atletico could even afford to see top scorer Antoine Griezmann smash a penalty off the crossbar seven minutes from time. Griezmann has now missed four of six penalties he has taken for Atletico, including crucially in defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
However, Simeone insisted the Frenchman will remain on spot-kick duty.
“He missed a penalty like (Diego) Maradona, (Lionel) Messi, (Michel) Platini, Zico, all the best players in the world,” added Simeone.
Defeat was Bayern’s first since Carlo Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola in charge after a perfect eight wins from eight before the former Real coach returned to Madrid. However, it was a familiar story for Bayern, as having been knocked out by Spanish sides for the past three seasons in the Champions League, they failed to score on Spanish soil for the fourth consecutive trip. While the results were identical, there was a marked difference between Atletico’s first leg semifinal win in April and last night.