Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone feels that his team made it too easy for an opponent of the quality of Inter Milan.
The Colchoneros boss spoke to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via FCInterNews, at the end of the 1-0 Nerazzurri victory in the Champions League round of sixteen first leg.
Inter and Atletico both knew that yesterday’s match was going to be a tough one.
And both teams did had to work hard and grit their teeth in what was a physical, intense match.
But in the end, it was the Nerazzurri whose quality proved to be decisive.
Inter were able to break through in the second half. It was striker Marko Arnautovic who scored the decisive goal on the night and gave his team an advantage to hold onto in the second leg.
But in truth, that was not the only chance that Inter created to score.
The Nerazzurri missed a few good opportunities. Arnautovic was culpable for a couple glaring misses prior to his goal, as was Inter captain Lautaro Martinez.
And at the other hand, Atletico never really fashioned more than a couple of half-chances.
So in the end, it was match that saw Inter able to impose their game and their tempo more than Atletico were able to theirs.
Atletico Madrid Coach Diego Simeone: Made It Too Easy For Inter
“Inter are a strong team,” Simeone said after the match.
“We allowed them too much. We shouldn’t have.”
“Even in the first half, they almost took advantage of an error by us.”
The Atletico coach noted that “They’re a very good team on the counter.”
“It’s difficult when you give them space on your flank to run into like that.”
“But beyond these details, my team put in a good performance,” Simeone continued.
“We had some chances to score. We go home down a goal.”
“They’re a strong a team and we have to work hard if we want to get back into it,” the Atletico coach said.
“Inter play well in every area of the pitch. They’re always dangerous.”
