Atletico Madrid has been in a deep shock after a shocking loss to Celta Vigo on Sunday night and fans are even not willing to believe that a side who defeated Real Madrid with such a huge margin just few days ago could not sustain their wining march for a while. Coach Diego Simeone has come forward and took the responsibility for not picking the right line up for the weekend game. No one would have been worrying had that loss was just another one, but since this defeat trailed them a good seven points to Real Madrid, it means a lot and many are now hesitating if Atletico can defend their title especially after Barcelona’s return in form. The strategy to use trio of Fernando Torres, Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann at the forward line could not bring any success for the Real giant and they faced a surprising defeat. In fact, it was first time Simeone did not pick Arda Turan and Koke for suspension and injury and he as well accepted his mistake in post-match news conference.
What he said about his selection, is, “In the first half I chose a bad formation and lost 45 minutes with that bad choice. It was not Fernando’s fault that he was picked to play, the team was badly set-up. We started the second half well, but then came the episode of the penalty and then the second goal. But must say Celta played well, a good game, and deserved to win.”
He, however, as well added how he replaced Torres with Cani in the half time but since they were already trailing by 1-0 by then, they could not shed off the lead, he said, “We needed more balance, better connection between the lines. We lost the ball very easily, and could not keep possession at all. The idea was to have more pace with Fernando and Griezmann, but it hardly ever worked. That is why Cani came in, to try and balance the team better. It worked okay, until the penalty we were better than the first half, for sure.”
He strangely did not question few decisions made by referee Juan Martinez Munuera that went against of them including missing the first goal which was a clear hand one or missing a penalty when Guilherme Siqueira grabbed the inside area. Anyways, it is now up to 44-year-old Argentine mentor how he corrects his mistakes in upcoming game against Almería!