The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent James Pearce has unleashed a rant on Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone following the Spanish outfit’s Champions League win at Anfield.
The side from the Spanish capital held out to withstand a barrage of shots from Jurgen Klopp’s men – 34 in total – to score three goals in extra-time to take them into the quarter-finals, on a night where they were largely outplayed and owe a lot to Jan Oblak in between the sticks.
While some have lauded the Argentine boss for a tactical masterclass – the BBC said that Simeone had ‘done it again’ – Pearce has fought against the praise aimed at the Atletico Madrid manager, instead suggesting that they “rode their luck” before punishing a mistake from Adrian.
While the latter is true, it is unfair to say that Simeone doesn’t deserve praise for his tactics – he knows how to get the best from his players more than anyone, and there can be no complaints from anyone seeing as Atletico won both legs of the tie.
You can see Pearce’s rant in full below:
In other news, James Pearce has provided a concerning statement regarding Naby Keita…