Atletico Madrid was back to its commanding winning ways. It hammered Celta Vido 4-1 in its 2022-23 La Liga tie on Saturday night. However, Diego Simeone feels the side 'still has situations to grow'.
It was a commendable performance from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid on Gameday 5 of La Liga 2022-23. Taking on 11th-placed Celta Vigo at home on Saturday night, the hosts won 4-1, thanks to strikes from Ángel Correa (9), Rodrigo De Paul (50), Yannick Carrasco (66) and Unai Nunez (83). The victory has taken the Mattress Makers to the fourth spot, as it is three points behind current leaders and giants Barcelona, with both sides having played a game more. However, Atletico head coach Diego Simeone feels that the side 'still has situations to grow'.
Speaking to DAZN after the success, Simeone remarked, "After the defeat against Villarreal, we needed to start adding points in LaLiga and, little-by-little, we improved. I think we still have situations to grow. Today at the start, we had some losses that gave them clear scoring chances, but at least there was an attempt to try to play better, and for that, you have to take risks many times, but it is also true that the third goal [Carrasco's] was great. We scored the four goals forcefully, with a lot of desire to get into scoring positions."
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"We made many changes. We knew that after the Champions League, the body was not the same, and neither was the head. They created important scoring situations for us, especially the one that Ivo manages to neutralise hand in hand. In the second half, we talked, and we wanted to improve. The second half was much more complete, except for the end. Until 70th minute, we had a good second half," added Simeone.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak missed out as a regular starter and was replaced by Ivo Grbic, who was impressive with a couple of saves when the score was goalless. "I understood [Oblak] was not in his best shape to be able to give 100 per cent. It was a great opportunity for Ivo, and he took advantage of it. It makes us very happy for him because he is working. When you work, you get the rewards in the end," Simeone concluded.