Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone expressed his deep disappointment after losing the Spanish Super Cup final to Real Sociedad, pointing to the immense physical exertion against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final as a contributing factor to the defeat against the Basque club.
Sociedad took the lead twice in the match, and Atletico managed to equalize each time. However, the Madrid club squandered a host of clear-cut chances in regulation time, before the match went to extra time and then penalties, where Simeone’s men lost 4-3.
After the match, El Cholo congratulated Sociedad and told the media, “The players put in a tremendous effort, but the game was decided in the 90 minutes; it was Jony or Baena’s chances that should have been converted. But as we always say, they were clinical, and we lacked it.”
Simeone attributed the team’s dip in form at times to the immense effort exerted against Barcelona last Tuesday, a 2-1 defeat that ultimately tipped the scales in favor of Atlético Madrid and secured their place in the Champions League semi-finals.
When asked about his message to Atlético Madrid fans, he replied, “It’s difficult to send messages because the fans need victories, not messages. All that’s left for us is to work every day.”
Regarding the upcoming match against Arsenal, he responded, “I’m not thinking about Arsenal right now. The defeat hurts a lot; we needed to win, but we couldn’t. But the way we competed gives me a lot of peace of mind.”
