Diego Simeone admits Atletico Madrid feared Leicester
Wednesday 19 April 2017 09:13, UK
Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone admitted his side survived a major scare as they edged past Leicester and into the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Atletico are beaten finalists in two of the last three years and are still searching for their first title in the competition.
"I'm full of emotions, full of pride for the performance of my team. Full of hope and excitement as we progress," he said.
"But I have to say what a great performance from Leicester, it was almost a pleasure to compete against then. We were living in fear all night of what they might achieve. They pushed us all the way.
"We performed in the way this match needed us to perform. We always come up with a solution. I don't like to praise too much but we responded and played in the we needed to."
Simeone also believes that Atletico should be considered among the biggest clubs in Europe after reaching their third semi-final in four years.
"When you talk about the greats of Europe you have to put an economic and financial slant on things," Simeone said. "The greats are Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid.
"But from a sporting point of view we are definitely competitive. When I say we are not one of the greats I mean in that sense, not in a sporting sense.
"It is great to be in the semi-finals for the third time in four years. Looking back at the first day I arrived at the club, I said my desire was to make Atletico Madrid competitive against every team we played against. It is satisfying now to say we are a competitive outfit."
