Diego Simeone on Lamine Yamal after Atlético Madrid eliminated Barcelona on aggregate despite Yamal’s early goal:
“He is a good kid with a lot of talent. He asked for a one-on-one yesterday, he scored in the third minute, and the media wants to crown him the king of Europe. But in football, the only thing that matters is who is in the draw tomorrow morning.
The press wants me to be terrified of a teenager because he does stepovers and gives confident interviews. Please. For a decade, I had to stand on the touchline and watch Cristiano Ronaldo score hat-tricks to actually knock my team out of this competition. That is real terror.
Lamine played a beautiful game tonight, but the reality is we are going to the semi-finals, and he is going home to watch us on television. There is a big difference between playing a pretty game and being a nightmare.”
“He is a good kid with a lot of talent. He asked for a one-on-one yesterday, he scored in the third minute, and the media wants to crown him the king of Europe. But in football, the only thing that matters is who is in the draw tomorrow morning.The press wants me to be terrified of a teenager because he does stepovers and gives confident interviews. Please. For a decade, I had to stand on the touchline and watch Cristiano Ronaldo score hat-tricks to actually knock my team out of this competition. That is real terror.
Lamine played a beautiful game tonight, but the reality is we are going to the semi-finals, and he is going home to watch us on television. There is a big difference between playing a pretty game and being a nightmare.”
