Diego Pablo Simeone, coach of Atlético de Madrid, said, regarding the derby incidents that led to the match being suspended for 22 minutes due to the throwing of lighters from the South Fund, that “those who throw and those who provoke must be punished.” , in reference to Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“My opinion is that people who committed incidents should be sanctioned by the club. We do not need these people. We need people who accompany us and support us. These harm the club, but be careful , this does not justify generating the situations that we generate “We, the protagonists, can help prevent things from happening. Those who provoke incidents and those who provoke them must be punished. This is clearly seen when Courtois charges at people and laughs.”
“You have to be careful with those who transport people and nothing happens. I insist that this does not justify what happens later, but the protagonists, and I include myself, have a lot to say “We must punish those who throw the lighters and those who charge the fans,” added Simeone.
Asked what he had said to the supporters when he went to ask them to stop shooting, the Atlético coach explained that he had told them not to harm his team, to stop do what they did.
“I insist. The club must sanction the people who committed these incidents. This does not justify creating the situations that the protagonists create. Since you are not sanctioned, you allow yourself to do everything. What happened does not should not happen, but Courtois also had lighters thrown at the Bernabéu when he was Atlético goalkeeper. The club should be the first not to allow this, but we are not victims, there can be. a reaction when Simeone, Messi, Courtois, Vinicius, Griezmann or whoever provokes, it is clear that Courtois charges when he laughs,” he said.
Regarding the match itself, Simeone highlighted that “in the first half” they defended “correctly”. “We had a few counter-attacks that we could have done better. In the second half I think we played well and this episode seems not to happen, but it benefited us because it stopped after a hard hit for us when we received the goal after the break, the team entered the match better and the tie was achieved.
Concerning Correa, scorer of the equalizer, he indicated that “he always wants to play as a starter” and that “he is one of the players who has made the most appearances at Atlético de Madrid”. “He has something extraordinary when he comes out of a difficult situation and my mission is to find balance in his minutes.”
He also praised Javi Galán: “Immense joy for him. He didn’t stop training and entered the game as he should.”
And he concluded with the incidents and what he said to those who were throwing lighters. “The message I gave to the supporters was to think about the club, about the team. They didn’t favor them. They claimed the rival goalkeeper had provoked them.”
“This does not justify these acts, but I hope that we can also sanction the protagonists that we accuse and since we call ourselves that, they do nothing to us,” he said.
