‘Madness!’: Spanish newspapers heap praise on Atletico Madrid after the ‘heroic’ win over Liverpool

‘Madness!’: Spanish newspapers heap praise on Atletico Madrid for their ‘heroic’ win over Liverpool after Diego Simeone’s men slayed the reigning European champions at Anfield

By Sam Mcevoy For Mailonline

Published: 08:58 GMT, 12 March 2020 | Updated: 08:58 GMT, 12 March 2020

Atletico Madrid’s stunning 3-2 win over Liverpool on Wednesday is being described as ‘heroic’ as Diego Simeone’s side knocked the reigning European champions out of the Champions League.

Spanish publications MARCA and Mundo Deportivo heaped praise on Atletico who will now take their place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition.

A Georginio Wijnaldum first-half header sent the tie to extra-time following Atletico’s first-leg win that saw them leading by a single goal.

Spanish publications MARCA and Mundo Deportivo heaped praise on Atletico Madrid’s win

Diego Simeone’s men pulled off a brilliant 3-2 win at Anfield to knock Liverpool out of Europe

While the hosts dominated the ball, it was Atletico that would take the advantage as super-sub Marcos Llorente bagged a brace before Alvaro Morata scored a third on the night to spark frantic celebrations.

Mundo Deportivo simply described the game and the result as ‘madness’ while MARCA ran with the headline ‘heroic’ with a picture of Llorente celebrating one of his goals.

Other Spanish newspapers AS and Sport followed suit with praising Simeone’s side for their efforts.

While the press lauded the performance, Liverpool boss was less than impressed with Atletico’s style of play.

AS and Sport also lauded Atletico’s efforts which sees them advance in the Champions League

Klopp told BT Sport after the defeat: ‘I’m completely happy with the performance. What can I say? It’s so difficult to play against a side like that. 

‘I don’t understand with this quality they have to be honest why they play this type of football. It’s right, the winner is always.

‘When I see players like Koke, Saul, Llorente, they could play proper football and not stand in their own half and play counter-attacking football.

‘They beat us, that’s how it is and we accept that of course. Congratulations to them. It doesn’t feel right tonight. I realise I’m a really, really bad loser.’

When asked about Klopp’s analysis of Atletico’s approach, Simeone replied: ‘I respect his identity and the quality footballers they have. We try to exploit deficiencies in the opponent. That’s what we do. And we try to win.’

Jurgen Klopp insisted that players like Koke (right) could play ‘proper football’ after the defeat

Simeone (left) insisted he respects Klopp’s (right) and Liverpool’s identity following the win

However, Simeone claimed the circumstances around the win were ‘unfair’ as his Atletico side had to play 30 extra minutes of away football to grab a result. 

‘What I have to say, and will be saying at the next UEFA coaches’ meeting, is what I think is unfair,’ said Simeone. 

‘Today was unjust because we had 30 minutes of extra time to score three away goals. Liverpool never had that. We had 30 more minutes to score an away goal and Liverpool didn’t. That’s not fair. 

‘The rule favoured us today but it might go against us in the future. Liverpool had 30 minutes fewer to score an away goal. That’s wrong.’ 

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