Diego Simeone described his players from Atletico Madrid as “Gladiators” and assessed their performance a 10 out of 10 after they saved a 1-1 draw against Celta Vigo in Laliga.
Atleti saw the midfielder Pablo Barrios sent away only seven minutes in Saturday's game and later fell behind an IAGO Aspas penalty.
Alexander Sorloth, however, scored nine minutes after the time to keep Athleti only one point on the drift of Real Madrid at the top, after Los Blancos was also held by Osasuna.
“If I had to judge it from one to 10, I should clearly give my players a 10,” said Simeone at a press conference after the game on Saturday.
“To play for almost 90 minutes with one man, something I have seen very little times and they have succeeded in defending well, checked the attacks of an opponent who plays aggressively.
“They had few chances except the penalty, but we managed to make it right and we were encouraged to play for the victory with what we had left in the tank.
“It was an obstacle that was placed for us, but we succeeded and that will make us stronger.
“The boys are at a good time and what I saw there after the red card, we were gladiators … Ninety minutes with one down, you know? It is very, very heavy …”
Madrid is still at the top of the rankings with 51 points, even though they returned by an Ante Budimir penalty when they also pulled 1-1 on Saturday.
Barcelona is third in 48 points and will be confronted on Monday with the sixth placed Rayo Vallecano.
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– Atlético de Madrid (@atleti Glish) February 15, 2025
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