Atletico Madrid outplayed Real Madrid in every department of the game to secure a memorable 4-0 victory over their arch rivals. And coach Diego Simeone was extremely pleased with the efforts of his players.
Atletico Madrid were two up inside 18 minutes through Tiago and brilliant strike of substitute Saul Niguez, with second half goals from Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic giving the final scoreline a look which reflected the game’s proceedings.
Atletico Madrid made a brilliant display of their attacking game to put Real Madrid on backfoot from the start of the game. Coach Diego Simeone admitted after the match that it was his strategy and his players executed it to the perfection.
“In a game like this we were able to play the game we wanted out on the pitch,” Simeone said. “And it went very well. Our ability to interpret the plan, and then execute it, was brilliant.
“To attack down the right with Arda Turan, Griezmann and Juanfran, to defend well and use Gabi and Tiago to cover Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. It came out well.”
“All us coaches have many ideas,” he said. “It is about being able to communicate them, and then the group being able to execute it. This group interprets very well what we want, and then goes out and does it. Without them it would be impossible.”
Meanwhile, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who returned to this match after a two game suspension, failed to make any impression but he said after the game that the Los Blancos are far superior to their local rivals in spite of this heavy defeat.
“Real Madrid are better than Atletico Madrid but we have to prove it on the field,” Ronaldo told reporters. “Anyway, I think we will win the Liga title at the end of the season.
“Nothing worked today. It is a day to forget. Real Madrid can never lose 4-0 against any team. We lacked enthusiasm and we were not mentally or physically fresh. There was little recovery time from Wednesday’s game [against Sevilla].”
Ronaldo, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Thursday, also stresed that there is no need for Real Madrid to panic after this heavy defeat.
“The team is fine, but today we made a big mistake,” Ronaldo stressed. “These were three points that we lost. No more. Not four points.”