Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone revealed that he was insulted by Liverpool fans as he broke his silence on clashing with the crowd and receiving a red card, after Virgil van Dijk’s dramatic stoppage-time winner. The Reds’ skipper netted from a corner in the dying moments to seal a thrilling 3-2 victory in their opening Champions League encounter of the campaign.
The altercation resulted in Simeone receiving his marching orders from the referee, forcing him to observe the final stages from the stands. The Atletico chief has now offered his version of events during his post-match press conference, insisting that there must be consequences for insults from the crowd.
“They always talk about taking care of each other, but they insult you throughout the entire match and you can’t say anything because you’re the manager,” Simeone said.
“My reaction was unjustifiable, but do you know what it’s like to be insulted for 90 minutes, to turn around after the opponent scores and still be insulted? It’s not that easy.
“(The referee told me) he understood me. I hope Liverpool can improve that aspect and that when they identify the person who did that, there will be consequences.
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“There were insults throughout the match, including gestures. It’s clear that I’m the one who has to stay calm, I have to put up with the insults, the gestures and any situation. Because I’m in a position where I have to put up with it.
“I’m not really going to get into the exact nature of the insults. I don’t want to get involved in that. I have got to stay in my place, I know what went on behind the manager’s bench. I can’t solve society’s problem in one press conference. I have to live with it as it exists all over the place all of the time.”
Simeone did credit Liverpool for their performance, grit and resilience, as they claimed another three points by virtue of a late winner.
“The truth is that it was a beautiful game, in a fantastic stadium in front of an incredible crowd, against a team full of great players,” he added to UEFA.
“We had our weapons and we gave our all to take the game in the direction that we wanted and I think we were dangerous.
“They [Liverpool] are a brave team, they showed that last season in their play, they competed well in the Champions League as well. We have our weapons and we arrived here with the aim to make a good game.
“We know that these games are long. The bench helped to recover what happened in the first moments and then what happened, happened.”