There were many doubts in Atletico Madrid’s locker room after their 0-2 loss against Celta Vigo on Sunday. For Diego Simeone there was something obvious, it was his fault.
Simeone is known for making the right decisions and making Atletico a fearless competitor anywhere they play. Their chances for a second consecutive La Liga title now start to vanish as Real Madrid and Barcelona won their respective games.
"In the first half, I chose a bad formation. I lost 45 minutes. I chose badly," Simeone confessed to the press after the game.
This is the starting XI Simeone regrets using
Aquí tenéis nuestro 11 titular. ¡Vamos, chicos! ¡Coraje y corazón! ¡Estamos con vosotros! #AúpaAtleti #CeltaAtleti https://t.co/4sRXYuRTxc
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) February 15, 2015
The Argentinian manager did not agree that lining up Fernando Torres, Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann was a mistake. He just thought it might not have been a balanced plan, so that’s why Torres had to come out during halftime.
Having Torres, Griezmann and Mandzukic on the field did not work as expected
"We started the second half better. Then there was the episode of the penalty and the second goal.
There is a lot for Simeone to think about moving forward. This was nothing close to their performance at the Madrilène derby last weekend. They have a chance for redemption against Almeria next weekend before facing Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League round of 16.
"It always hurts to lose, we never want to and we are coming away feeling sad,” Simeone said.
The team failed to score for the first time away from home since August. Diego Godin knew it wasn’t a good game. He also pointed out that there is enough quality in the team to face future challenges.
"We're a large group and we're all prepared to play,” Godin told Canal Plus after the game.
