MADRID :Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said he was not bothered by his team’s tendency to fall behind as they fight their way back into games, following their 4-2 comeback home win over Real Valladolid on Monday.
Third-placed Atletico fell behind early to LaLiga’s bottom side, but two penalties from Julian Alvarez plus goals by Giuliano Simeone and Alexander Sorloth, sealed a victory that boosts their slim title hopes.
They are now seven points behind leaders Barcelona and three off second-placed Real Madrid.
It was the second comeback in a row for Atletico after they last week salvaged a last-minute 2-1 win at Sevilla to snap a three-game winless run.
“It happened against Sevilla and today too,” Simeone told reporters. “Valladolid’s goals were fortuitous.
“What’s important is the team’s reaction, the penalty and Giuliano’s goal came, then we slowed the game down again but after that it went the way we wanted,
“We know that there is no such thing as an easy game, there will always be difficult moments. You can’t control the game all the time.
“There are things you can’t control and that happened today. But today we were able to work on it well with team effort, as we have been doing all season.”
The Argentine manager praised the performance of his son Giuliano, admitting he had been surprised by his level throughout the season, but insisted the winger has to be consistent as “nothing will be given to him.”
“I didn’t expect him to perform like this, I did expect him to help us. That’s why I thought of having him as just another player in the squad,” Simeone said of the 22-year-old.
“Honestly, he’s having a great season and hopefully he can keep it up. Nobody has given him anything for free and nobody is going to give it to him. He knows it, he knows me better than anyone.”
Simeone also had words of praise for Alvarez after the striker reached 26 goals in all competitions this term.
“Julian is having a great season, we need that player, especially in moments of the game against Sevilla and today.
“He has scored 14 league goals, but we tell him that (LaLiga’s top scorer with 25 Robert) Lewandowski has scored many more,” adeed a laughing Simeone.
