Diego Simeone: Champions League Defeats To Real Madrid Will Stay With Me For Life

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has said he will never fully get over losing two Champions League finals to bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Simeone watched his beloved Atletico lose to Real on penalties in May after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra-time, with Cristiano Ronaldo converting the decisive spot-kick. It was a defeat that compounded the misery from 2014, when they were beaten 4-1 in Lisbon.

The Argentine coach even hinted that he could not continue as Atletico boss after the most recent European agony, but clarified those comments in a recent interview.

“When I said I had to think, I was talking about the way to keep going with Atletico Madrid. I couldn’t have left peacefully,” he told Movistar +.

“I never said I was leaving. I said I needed to think and thinking can be about a mass of different things. For example, the energy with which I’ve had to present myself to the same group of boys for four and a half years.

“I want to drive them to demand the maximum of themselves and compete again after losing two finals, and that’s not easy.

“People are afraid to use the word ‘failure’, but it’s synonymous with not reaching your goal. It’s possibly a strong word, but it’s the reality of what I felt.

“To reach a final for a second time, with the effort of a huge number of people and a lot of work, and to lose for a second time, was a very hard blow.

“When they say that defeats are water under the bridge, it’s a lie. That’s not happened to me. Losing those two finals will stay with me for life. No other final will make up for those two defeats.

“Life does not give easy battles to the best warriors, and I consider myself a warrior.”

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