Diego Simeone was seething with referee Carlos Delgado in the wake of Atletico’s 2-2 draw with Real Madrid but claimed the result still keeps his side’s title hopes alive.
Sunday’s Madrid derby at the Vicente Calderon propelled the rivalry between Atletico and Real to a new level of intensity, with both managers left unhappy after the eventful and fiery encounter for very different reasons.
Simeone was so upset with Delgado’s display he refused to directly discuss the officiating, twice point blank refusing to answer specific questions about the official.
Simeone, whose assistant German Burgos was sent off after a particularly furious confrontation with Delgado when Diego Costa was booked in the second half, restricted himself to alluding to the perceived injustices as he said: “I am very proud of this squad. They are a group of men who fight against everything and everyone.”
The Argentine then added: “It will annoy some people, but we are still in it. There is a long way to go yet, and to be three points off the top with 12 matches left is very good for us. And there is a big Real Madrid-Barcelona match to come which is going to be hard for them both.”
Real manager Carlo Ancelotti believed that Atletico adopted an excessively physical approach to the game, which ended 2-2 after Cristiano Ronaldo’s late strike denied the hosts a victory that would have brought the teams level on points at the top of the table.
“They made it an aggressive game,” he said. “A game like that doesn’t suit us. We tried to play but Atletico played a very rough game and it was not easy to break out of that.”
One of the main refereeing decisions that infuriated Simeone was Delgado’s failure to award a first-half penalty when Sergio Ramos appeared to trip Costa.
Despite TV replays showing clear contact, Ramos said: “That’s football. There are a thousand penalties that aren’t given and others that are. I don’t think it was a penalty.”
