Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus were pushed to the brink of death in the Champions League after a 0-2 loss at Atletico Madrid. This defeat forced Juventus to score at least 2 goals and not concede in the return match to hope to continue.
Notably, after center back Manolo Gimenez increased the score to 2-0 against Juventus, coach Diego Simeone celebrated enthusiastically and was somewhat frustrated off the pitch when he used both hands to place the lower back. In the post-match press conference, Diego Simeone affirmed that this celebration did not intend to offend Juve.
"I celebrated like this when I was a player. Simply put, it is just to prove to everyone that Atletico and I have courage. I don't mean to insult Juventus, when celebrating, I turn to the Atletico fans," Simeone said.
"I understand this is not a beautiful celebration. But I felt I needed to do this. This was a difficult match. We fought our best, Diego Costa came on when he had not recovered 100% of his fitness. So I want to celebrate. I apologize if anyone feels offended by it, but it's a real feeling." Coach Simeone ended up sharing.
"I want to show that my team is very brave, the full courage of the men," coach Simeone explained the situation at a loss. "Right from the starting lineup, I had to be very brave to name Diego Costa and Koke when they had not played for a whole month due to injury," Simeone said.
Simeone also admitted that he and his students are mentally prepared to endure Juventus in the second leg. "We know we are facing a good team, a big club, a champion from Turin. We are ready to endure in the second leg."
Atletico were denied a goal in the match against Juventus. They were twice intervened by VAR in favorable situations. In the first half, the referee withdrew the penalty after De sciglio's foul on Diego Costa was determined to be outside the 16m50 range.
In the second half, the referee dismissed Morata's goal when reviewing the video and saying that the Atletico striker pushed center back Chiellini before heading into Juventus' net. However, Atletico persevered and did not give up.
Their fighting spirit was rewarded with two consecutive goals, from the 78th to the 83rd minute. This victory helped Atletico create a huge advantage before the return match on March 12 at Juventus' field.
