Simeone: I Watched Barça and Thought, “Wow, We Knocked Them Out Twice, My God!”

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has lauded Barcelona for their La Liga triumph. While his side finished nearly 30 points behind the champions in the league, they managed to derail their rivals' season by eliminating them from two major competitions: the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

“If we look at the entire season, Barça is the team playing the best football in the world,” Cholo stated. “From start to finish, they fully deserved to win the title, just as they did last year – with immense conviction. We must congratulate them; they played incredible football. Yesterday, I watched their match (against Real Madrid – editor’s note) and thought to myself, ‘Wow, we knocked Barcelona out twice, my God!’”

Meanwhile, Atletico lost the Copa del Rey final, but despite finishing fourth, they have secured their spot in the Champions League for the upcoming season. In this context, the team seemingly has little left to play for. On Tuesday evening, they face an away fixture against Osasuna.

“How do you motivate the team for matches like these?” Simeone was asked.

“Even when you play with friends, you still want to win. No matter how meaningless the matches might seem, a person always wants to win – that’s the incentive. Whether you’re an amateur or a professional. I don’t believe any amateur goes out without the desire to win. It will be for enjoyment and with a desire to play football,” the coach replied.

“What’s our biggest lesson from the season? That’s a good question, but it would be better to answer it at another time, because now it would sound like an excuse. Since we didn’t win anything, the pundits would say exactly that,” Simeone added.