Atletico Madrid were beaten 2-1 by FC Barcelona at Vicente Calderon, courtesy of a late Lionel Messi goal. Atletico manager Diego Simeone has admitted that his side were outplayed by the Catalans in every department, despite the narrow margin of the loss.
Fernando Torres, who had been a big thorn for FC Barcelona during his first spell at Atletico Madrid, scored an early goal to give Atletico Madrid the lead. Neymar wasted no time in leveling the scores for FC Barcelona, before Lionel Messi came off the bench to net the winner in the dying minutes.
Simeone admits Atletico were outplayed by Barcelona
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Despite the narrow loss at the last minute, Simeone admitted that the Catalans outplayed them in every department.
“I think Barcelona dominated every area of the game, whether defending or in possession. We didn’t have a good game,” Simeone was quoted as saying by Goal.com after the game.
“We started the second half well, but the quick equaliser put us off our stride again. Our idea was to try and pressure higher up the pitch, but Barcelona absolutely dominated the game.
“They are a team that put a lot of pressure on you in attack and if you can’t counter that with attacks of your own it makes it very difficult.
“The way we started the second half was what we were trying to achieve but they equalised quickly and we lost control of the game.”
Simeone hails Messi winner
Diego Simeone’s countryman Lionel Messi struck the goal that condemned Atletico to the loss. Following the international break, Messi had been benched by Luis Enrique in order to keep him fresh for the midweek Champions League tie.
Hailing the impact of the Argentine, Simeone said, “Messi was decisive when he was on the pitch. He’s used to deciding matches and he did so again.”
