Diego Simeone explains Sørloth has “characteristics no other player has” after Oviedo double

Following the final whistle of an impressive 2-0 win over Real Oviedo at the Estadio Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Saturday night, Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone spoke to the press and was full of praise for goalscorer Alexander Sørloth in particular.

“My opinion of Alex, whether he plays 15, 60, or 90 minutes, is very important because he has characteristics that no other player has, he allows us to play differently while he’s on the field,” Simeone explained.

He went on to add that, “we need him this way; it’s what the team needs, and he’ll be happy because he’s ambitious when it comes to scoring goals”.

Diego Simeone on Marc Pubill’s first start

“We’ve been talking every time he’s come on since that game against Rayo Vallecano at a difficult time for the team, and he’s come on very well. He’s working with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of commitment, and a lot of desire to show why he’s at Atlético Madrid, and, well, when the time was right, we gave him minutes, and he’s making the most of them. Hopefully, he can continue to grow because it’s important for him and, obviously, for the team as a result.”

Diego Simeone on the good form

“I don’t dwell on these situations. Football is always about the present, the next game, the moment when you have to play against whoever you have to play against, and there is an obligation and a responsibility to do well. We need to improve, we need to maintain consistency, above all, which is the most difficult thing in this tournament, which is very long and very tough and very difficult and has its ups and downs. we’re going through a period where the group is competing well because seven different players came on who hadn’t started the game against Inter, and there was a very good start to the game where the team was aggressive, intense, looked for the goal, took the lead, could have had another goal in the first half because of the chances we created, and that’s the way forward.”

Diego Simeone on seven changes to the starting lineup

“No, honestly, I did it thinking about how to win the game with the players who could best respond to what I imagined might happen in the game. The truth is that the first half was very good, they didn’t have any chances and I think we created, especially on the left, a good attack that always created dangerous situations for us and I’m very happy for all the guys who maybe don’t get as much playing time and obviously had to do it today and they did very well.”

Diego Simeone on only 17 minutes behind on the scoreboard this season

“No, the truth is that I don’t give it that much importance. I’d love for this to give us a title, but it doesn’t give us any title. It’s just a compliment we receive, and the truth is that we’re going to depend on what we do in the game against Barcelona for any comments from you.”

Diego Simeone on possible disappointment among non-starting players

“Yes, of course, like anyone else, like the ones who didn’t play today, for example Almada didn’t play today, if he doesn’t start the next game he’ll be disappointed, because everyone wants to play and that’s normal.”

Diego Simeone on having one eye on Barcelona

“No, the truth is that I don’t think as much as you do. We simply won a game that we needed to win, that we had to win, and now we have a very tough, difficult game against an opponent that we know very well and that has enormous potential, obviously even more so with the return of Raphinha and Pedri, who make a difference. Well, we’ll face a very tough opponent.”

Diego Simeone on Jan Oblak

“Oblak did a great job in goal, as did all the people who work with him to keep him in the condition he has been in for so many years. The team did a great job of helping him reach his potential, as happens with forwards and their assistants. In this case, we were the assistants. we, the players, were the assistants to Jan’s great work and great quality. He deserves it, and hopefully he can continue in this vein because we need him at his best.”

Diego Simeone on the feeling in the locker room

“We needed to win the game, the team came out with the ambition to win quickly, we had the goals and the chances to extend our lead. In the second half, we went from strength to strength, but we didn’t see the attack that we did in the first half.”

Diego Simeone on Álex Baena

“We understood that he had played the game he had to play and that we needed. And then in the second half, with Giuliano and Nico on the wings and Griezmann playing like Baena, we could continue in the same vein as in the first half.”

Diego Simeone on the game against Barcelona

“It depends on how you look at it. I like how he plays, I love Raphinha, his movements, his counter attacks, his collective work. Pedri came on very well, and the absence of those players at the start of the league season weighs heavily on the team, even though we have great players. But they are the difference makers, and difference makers make the difference.”