Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone has hit back at claims his side were lucky to beat Liverpool in their Champions League last 16 clash.
The Spanish side pulled off one of the shocks of the year back in April when they knocked out Jürgen Klopp’s side at Anfield.
Atlético headed to Merseyside with a 1-0 lead under their belt after an impressive performance at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg.
They were widely expected to struggle at Anfield, though, with many expecting Liverpool to roll over Simeone’s side on home turf.
That looked like being the case too as goals from Georginio Wijnaldum, and then Roberto Firmino handed them a 2-1 lead.
However, a disastrous mistake from Reds keeper Adrian saw Marcos Llorente pounce, later adding another, alongside Alvaro Morata, to secure a famous 3-2 win and knock out the holders.
It was a shock result, with Liverpool having 71% of the possession, 34 shots and dominating the game, leading to claims that Atlético had simply ridden their luck. Simeone, though, is having none of that talk.
“Football is like boxing because you have to know when it is time to attack,” he told the Argentinian FA.
“At Atlético, we know the virtues we have as a team. The example is when we played against Liverpool, a tremendous team, we knew that we could hurt him.
“When they talk about how we were lucky, I think of a team that lost 2-0 and made three goals. That is not luck. The games must be valued as a whole. “
“Against Liverpool, we knew that Morata was injured, and that he was going to relapse. We lost 1-0, and the tension went up.
“I thought ‘how can I put Morata there, extend, and get injured again; I commit suicide; I am going to put up with it until the end. ‘And it went well: he was injured, but he scored.”
