Atletico Madrid coach sad not to win anything this season but praises team’s progress in Europe
Diego Simeone has refused to blame the referee after Atletico Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League following a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Bukayo Saka’s first-half goal at the Emirates secured a 2-1 aggregate win for Arsenal, who will now face either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest.
Atletico were involved in a key second-half moment when referee Daniel Siebert declined to award a penalty after a challenge by Riccardo Calafiori on Antoine Griezmann. Instead, a free kick was given to Arsenal for an earlier foul by Marc Pubill.
“I won’t focus on something simple like the Griezmann incident,” Simeone said. “It’s obvious, it was a foul. The referee said there was a foul by Marc [Pubill] on one of their players.
“I won’t focus on that. It would be an excuse, and I don’t want to make excuses.”
Simeone’s side had an outside chance to win the Copa del Rey and Champions League this season after reaching the final in won and the semi-finals in the other. His team failed in both, losing to Real Sociedad on penalties before Tuesday’s crushing blow at the Emirates, but the Argentine has chosen to focus on his team’s efforts this season.
“We got to a place nobody imagined, competing with a team with incredible power,” Simeone said. “I feel proud to be where I am. In preseason, when the team was presented, I said we’d compete. And we competed. Unfortunately we haven’t won anything, but we’ve gotten to places it isn’t easy to get to.
“We’ve grown enormously in every aspect, we’re a club recognised in Europe and the world. Of course the fans want to win. Getting to a semifinal isn’t enough.”
