Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone feels that beating Inter Milan in the Champions League gave his team strength.
The Colchoneros boss spoke to Sky Sport Italia, via FCInter1908, ahead of his team’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Borussia Dortmund.
Atletico were far from favourites to move on to the quarterfinals going into the second leg of their Champions League round of sixteen tie last month.
The Nerazzurri had won the first leg. And moreover, they had done so in fairly convincing fashion.
Only a lack of cutting edge prevented Inter from taking a larger advantage into the second leg than 1-0.
Then, Inter scored the opening goal in the second leg in Madrid.
Atletico Madrid Coach Diego Simeone: “Beating Inter Gave Us Strength”
It was vital for Atletico to respond. But that is exactly what they did, scoring an equalizer on the night right away.
And from there, the momentum was all with the home side.
That was not necessarily a reflection of the broader form that either team has been in this season.
Inter have been close to faultless in Serie A over much of the campaign. Atletico, on the other hand, have struggled with erratic league form.
But the La Liga side reasserted themselves with their victory on penalties.
And it’s been enough to give Atletico a boost in the run-in of the season.
Colchoneros coach Simeone said that “We did well against Inter.”
“Reaching the quarterfinals like that gave us the strength that we needed to keep going in this difficult competition,” he continued.
Of facing Dortmund, Simeone said that “We’ll be up against one of the most intense teams in the competition.”
“So we’ll have to show our bad side, and take the game to them,” he said of taking on the German team in the quarterfinals.