Simeone Gets Emotional After Atletico’s Historic Derby Thrashing of Real

MADRID, Spain – An emotional Diego Simeone praised his team’s belief and hard work after Atletico Madrid’s stunning 5-2 victory over rivals Real Madrid on Saturday, a result what seen them score five against their city neighbours for the first time in 75 years.

The Argentine manager, who’s been in charge for 14 seasons now, was seen with tears in his eyes near the end of the match. He said the win were especially sweet after a difficult start to the campaign.

“Real Madrid is one of the best teams in the world, and today we had to play a great game,” Simeone told reporters afterwards. “From the start, we knew where we could do damage.”

Simeone pointed to the tactics what worked a treat, like using the wingers to pull Real’s defence out of position and leaving striker Alexander Sorloth in the middle to cause problems. “Beyond their two goals, the team did well,” he added.

The win were a massive relief for Atletico, who’d only managed one win in their first six games this season. “There’s a lot of emotions inside,” Simeone admitted. “The season started off difficult and there’s a lot of effort from a lot of people that you don’t see.”

He made a point of praising Julian Alvarez, who bagged two goals and were brilliant all game. “Julian is committed to the team, to the club, and he is very good. He has talent and works hard. We need him, we have to take care of him.”

With eight new players coming in this summer and seven last year, Simeone asked for patience. “When you lose, it’s difficult to talk because everything sounds like an excuse. I think we deserved a little more but we started with few results.”

The famous win lifts Atletico up to fourth in the table with 12 points, while Real Madrid are still top on 18 points but will be feeling proper sore after this one.