Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone hailed his side’s display as one of the best in his hugely successful five-year reign in charge as Yannick Carrasco inflicted another 1-0 defeat for Bayern Munich at the Vicente Calderon.
Simeone’s men also beat Bayern at home in April on their way to a second Champions League final in three years. And the Argentine lauded Atletico’s tactical discipline as they secured an incredible 15th clean sheet and 14th win in 18 home Champions League games under Simeone.
“I feel so proud to be the coach of this team,” said Simeone. “I liked everything today. We pressed high, took advantage of spaces on the counter-attack and played with intensity for 90 minutes which is very difficult to do against one of the best teams in the world. Tactically, the team interpreted the game fantastically. It was one of the best performances in my time at Atletico Madrid.” Carrasco fired home the winner 10 minutes before half-time after Jan Oblak had denied Thomas Muller with a stunning save early on with Bayern’s best effort. Atletico could even afford to see top scorer Antoine Griezmann smash a penalty off the crossbar seven minutes from time.
Griezmann has now missed four of six penalties he has taken for Atletico, including crucially in defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final. However, Simeone insisted the Frenchman will remain on spot-kick duty.
“He missed a penalty like (Diego) Maradona, (Lionel) Messi, (Michel) Platini, Zico, all the best players in the world,” added Simeone. “He will keep taking them. He has incredible personality. He did 1000 things tonight that keep putting him amongst the best forwards in the world.”
Griezmann replied with glowing words for Simeone’s importance in his progression since joining from Real Sociedad just over two years ago. “He has been very important for me because he has made me progress. I know I still have a lot to learn from him and I hope to continue like that,” said the Frenchman. “It is still frustrating to miss the penalty, but it won’t be the last time I miss a chance”
Defeat was Bayern’s first since Carlo Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola in charge after a perfect eight wins from eight before the former Real coach returned to Madrid. However, it was a familiar story for Bayern, as having been knocked out by Spanish sides for the past three seasons in the Champions League, they failed to score on Spanish soil for the fourth consecutive trip.
“Atletico showed a killer instinct tonight, and we did not,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. “We will have another chance to beat them in Munich.”
Top spot in Group D is likely to come down to that meeting between the sides on December 6 as both won their opening games against FC Rostov and PSV Eindhoven. And Arjen Robben insists Bayern must find away to counteract the “unpleasant” tactics used by Atletico.
“That is a big game for the group phase. Last season it was a semi-final and you could see why,” said the Dutch winger. “They have a very unpleasant team to play against. We started really well. The first 15, 20 minutes were really good. We were aggressive and had chances, which you have to use in a game like that. We have to learn from this and keep going.”