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Atletico recorded their first away win against the Catalans since 2006, five years prior to Simeone arrival at the club.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team's resilience and fighting spirit after their 2-1 victory over Barcelona on Saturday.
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The win is their first away win against the Catalans since 2006, a feat achieved five years before Simeone arrived at the club.
Simeone hails Atletico after historic win at Barcelona
Simeone acknowledged that Barcelona had dominated large portions of the game but emphasized his players' determination in overcoming a one-goal deficit to secure their first away win.
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"I'm very happy with the team's effort. We were humble enough to suffer and to defend against a team that played very well. In the first half and I think until our goal they were far superior to us," Simeone told reporters after the match via Reuters.
He added, "Then I think we started to find our feet a bit in the game, and we saw that we could compete in the game. The team managed to hold on."
Simeone applauds his tactics
Simeone credited his substitutions as being important to secure the hard-fought victory against a Barcelona side that now sits second in the league, three points behind Atletico having played one more game.
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23:08 - 21.12.2024
Simeone earns first away win against Barcelona as Atletico hand Madrid LaLiga advantage
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A key tactical decision was the substitution of talisman Antoine Griezmann for Alexander Sorloth in the 73rd minute. This proved to be a masterstroke, as Sorloth scored the decisive goal in the dying moments of the game following a swift counter-attack.
"That's what a team is, when one player comes off and another player comes on and gives a response. We took Griezmann off early, which is difficult for me, but I knew that Sorloth had something that could make us come out from the back to hold the ball," Simeone explained.
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He continued, "I think the substitutions gave us strength. Some attacking situations that you can find on the counter-attack, an exquisite play, a great goal by Sorloth that gave us the chance to win a very difficult game."
Atletico Madrid climbed atop LaLiga on Saturday with their 12th straight win in all competitions.
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