Tribal Football

Simeone "positive" as Atletico Madrid held at Rayo

Simeone "positive" as Atletico Madrid held at Rayo
Simeone "positive" as Atletico Madrid held at RayoLaLiga
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone was calm after their 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano.

Isi had Rayo ahead before Conor Gallagher's equaliser early in the second-half. Afterwards, Simeone was satisfied, despite the draw.

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First half: "I'm more concerned than worried. In the first half we had more goal-scoring chances, Sorloth's, Julián's and the one where the goalkeeper was left alone. We had more goal-scoring chances than play. In the second half we played the game we had to play. In the opponent's half and it seemed like we could win the game at any moment."

 

Attitude: "I always stick with the positive things, which were in the second half. You could see that the game needed what we did. With people taking center stage in the offensive part, a nice goal from Gallagher. We could have won the game."

 

Draw and lack of forcefulness: "We are convinced that the goals will come, the problem is when the forwards do not have situations. Julián on the left gave us another chance, Correa came on very well, José came on very well, Griezmann gave the team personality to be in the opponent's half and have dynamism, Giuliano provoked things. I am happy with the second half."

 

Real Madrid and Barça don't stop: "I live it like every year, with the same enthusiasm to play our championship, which is game by game, always getting the most out of each game."

 

Rayo: "I imagined a game like the one they played, based on second balls, putting pressure on long balls, with Nteka showing it, stretching the team and making us run backwards. They did very well, but in the second half we were superior."

 

Change of system: "The players keep marking you, I follow what the team asks. In the first half, without playing a good game, we created three goal-scoring situations. We have to continue that trend and we took advantage in the second half to try to find what we saw."