Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has revealed the Manchester United weakness that his side exploited during their 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Spanish outfit progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after prevailing 2-1 on aggregate, with Renan Lodi’s first-half goal all that separated the two in the second leg.
Man Utd started brightly but faded as the game went on, and never really looked like scoring after Atletico took the lead on the night.
Speaking to AS post-game, Simeone revealed that he’s been impressed with United’s slight resurgence under Ralf Rangnick, but that their susceptibility to counter attacks provided Atletico with the perfect route to goal.
“Manchester [United] has competed well since their coach arrived and has improved a lot. We found them a team very tough, very difficult.
“They said in the previous match that we didn’t like the ball, we found attacking situations to be more forceful.”
Simeone added: “I’m excited to see a team that has no shame. At the start of the game I saw that in any counter attack, we could hurt [them]. We have a brilliant collective, it leaves me with joy.
“It was not only a general effort. I want to make it clear that the team knew what they had to do. [Man Utd] have great individuals, they started very well but it was a little messy to create pressure at the start.
“We knew we could play with spaces. We suffered and once again we are among the best eight in Europe, and this is extraordinary for the club after winning La Liga.”
Source: 90min.com
