Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone had no response from Real Madrid to his midweek comments about referees. The Argentina manager claimed that their prospects are simply down to the team that pays their wages.
Last week, Simeone noted that 'episodes that have been happening for a hundred years' took place during Real Madrid's controversial win over Celta Vigo, and wondered why decisions that went Los Blancos' way took anyone by surprise. Carlo Ancelotti commented that his comments were 'for the gallery' or addressed to Atletico fans, while Dani Ceballos claimed after Real Madrid's victory that Simeone is still not over the two Champions League final defeats against his bitter rivals had gone.
Simeone was asked about the controversy ahead of their Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen.
“I never give my opinion about what my colleagues say. I refer to memory. If you think back to the match against Bayern, those statements (from Ancelotti) were a consequence of what happened on the pitch, not for the gallery. And Ceballos the same: he made the same statement when he was at Betis. They're doing really well, they're a great team… but when they were on a different team they thought differently…'
Simeone was asked if it was useful to focus on referees.
“You're the ones focusing on that. One person comments, the other does too, and you turn it into a cover story,” he explained to Diario AS.
The Atletico manager refers to Ceballos' comments that Real Madrid were always favored when he was at Real Betis, and a similar tone from Ancelotti when he was Bayern Munich manager, who said 'strange things happen at the Bernabeu' .
Simeone, a potential future manager of Real Madrid, was full of praise for Xabi Alonso, his counterpart, on Tuesday evening.
“Of course. He is a reference for the way he saw football from the middle of the field, where it is best seen, and he had great coaches. Definitely congratulations on his work, and we'll have to take the game in a direction where we think we can do some damage.”
El Cholo was also confident that Atletico Madrid would discover their Copa del Rey opponents, Getafe.
“We know them very well. They are growing a lot, we already saw that in the match against Barca. You see the characteristics of the coach and in a one-off match it is always difficult.”
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