Simeone proud of united Atletico

Atletico Madrid’s new coach Diego Simeone was buoyed by his side’s performance in Saturday night’s scoreless draw with Malaga.

The Argentine, who recently succeeded Gregorio Manzano at the helm, felt that after a slow start his team had had the better of the game at La Rosaleda.

“I saw a united team with character that had more clear goal-scoring opportunities,” Simeone said.

“I liked the solidarity and the collective effort from the team. After the first 25 minutes we attacked more and in the second half we played the game the way we wanted to play it, taking risks.”

“We were strong defensively and we had our chances (on the counter) when we won the ball back.”

Simeone admitted that it had been an honour to lead the side for whom he once turned out as a player but insisted that he did not dwell on the significance of the occasion for too long.

“It was very nice, an important moment, but you cannot enjoy it because you must try to control the game,” he said.

“The team came from losing several games in a row and it was difficult against Malaga, who have a huge budget and great players.”

Simeone’s first home game in charge of Atletico, who are currently 10th in La Liga, comes against Villarreal next weekend.