Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone was having none of the Real Madrid response to his comments in midweek about refereeing. The Argentine manager claimed that their perspectives are simply down to the team paying their wages.
Last week Simeone noted that ‘episodes that have happened for a 100 years’ occurred during Real Madrid’s controversial win over Celta Vigo, asking why decisions going Los Blancos’ way surprised anyone. Carlo Ancelotti noted that his comments were ‘for the gallery’ or directed at Atletico fans, while Dani Ceballos claimed after Real Madrid’s win that Simeone was still not over their two Champions League final defeats to his bitter rivals.
Simeone was asked about the controversy ahead of their Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
🚨 Diego Simeone: “We have a very big objective; the club has never won the Champions League, and our goal is to reach that highly desired final.” pic.twitter.com/h2hw83busy
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) January 20, 2025
“I never give my opinion on what my colleagues say. I refer to memory. When you go down memory lane and remember that match against Bayern, those statements (by Ancelotti) were a consequence of what happened on the pitch, not for the gallery. And Ceballos the same: he made the same statement when he was at Betis. They are doing very well, they are a great team… but when they were on a different team, they thought differently…”
Simeone was asked whether it was beneficial to focus on refereeing.
“You are the ones who focus it. One comments, another does too, and you make it a cover story,” he explained to Diario AS.
The Atletico manager is referencing comments from Ceballos on Real Madrid always being favoured while he was at Real Betis, and a similar tone from Ancelotti while he was Bayern Munich manager, saying ‘strange things happen at the Bernabeu’.
A potential future Real Madrid manager, Simeone was full of praise for Xabi Alonso, his opposite number on Tuesday night.
“Yes, sure. He is a reference for how he saw football from the centre of the pitch, which is where it is best seen, and he had great coaches. Absolute congratulations for his work, and we will have to take the game in a direction where we think we can do damage.”
El Cholo also opined on Atletico Madrid finding out their Copa del Rey opponents, Getafe.
“We know them very well. They are growing a lot, we already saw that in the game against Barca. You can see the characteristics of the coach and, in a one-off match, it is always difficult.”
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