Diego Simeone, the coach of Atletico Madrid, rejected the request of Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s rising star. He also underestimated the Catalan club’s complaints regarding the pitch, describing them as “trivial matters.”
Atletico Madrid will host Barcelona this evening, Tuesday, at the Metropolitano Stadium in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, after winning the first leg at the Spotify Camp Nou Stadium with two clean goals.
In statements to the Spanish “Movistar” channel before the match, Simeone stated that his team feels very enthusiastic about this confrontation, and stressed that there is a strong desire to provide a distinguished performance in this match, which he described as very important.
Regarding the possibility of the course of the match changing contrary to what is expected, the Argentine coach explained that this is a possibility in all matches, because the opposing team also has a different plan, and in the end, the players are the ones who make the difference.
He also talked about his decision to include goalkeeper Juan Musso instead of Jan Oblak, pointing out that the technical staff is constantly communicating with the two goalkeepers, and that the team needs them together at their best during this crucial stage.
Regarding Barcelona’s complaint to UEFA regarding the length of the grass, Simeone commented briefly: “I will not get into trivial matters.”
According to the Spanish newspaper “Marca”, UEFA rejected Barcelona’s objections to the floor of the “Riyadh Air Metropolitano” stadium, after the technical committee confirmed its safety, and measurements showed that the length of the grass was 26 mm, which is within the permissible limits.
For his part, Atletico Madrid president, Enrique Cerezo, mocked the ongoing controversy, saying that some prefer short hair and others prefer long hair, considering that talking about grass before a match of this size is “extremely ridiculous.”
Regarding the statement of Lamine Yamal, who asked Simeone in the press conference to leave him in a one-on-one situation on the wing, the Argentine coach said that the player is very difficult to monitor, and he needs four or six players to stop him.
