‘But nobody cares about that’ – Diego Simeone furious with Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid are out of the Copa del Rey and the general sentiment is one of frustration. They played well, but in their view Real Madrid benefitted significantly from the referee.

The key incident in question was a potential second yellow card that was not shown to Dani Ceballos, which was then compared with the fact that Stefan Savic was shown a second yellow.

Speaking to Marca after the match, Atletico manager Diego Simeone hinted at his fury by saying that nobody cared about it.

“I asked him with respect. It already happened in San Sebastian and I asked him if he had something against Morata. He told me that Alvaro exaggerates his falls, but that he ate the one that forced him to come off. Nobody cares that Ceballos could have seen a second yellow. We are sad about the result but proud of how we competed.”

“In the end, it is the players who play and Real Madrid were superior in front of goal again,” Simeone did admit.

The refereeing performance continued to dominate his press conference though, as he kept his tongue firmly in his cheek by insisting that nobody would care about the incident.

“Madrid started to play, it is a team that normally plays well and has the chance to attack, before there is a decisive play by Ceballos that goes unnoticed, nobody cares, I repeat again, nobody cares but it takes you down one path or another.”

“I told him that if he had a personal problem with Morata because he didn’t give him free-kick, but he didn’t give him a free kick in the whole game. Alvaro ended up beaten up and had to go off and he had eaten it, the Ceballos thing remains a question of what he could have seen.”

If Ceballos had been sent off, it would have left Atletico Madrid a goal and a man up for the final stages of the match. As it was, Rodrygo Goes waltzed through the Atleti defence for the equaliser.

It will be even more bitter for Simeone, knowing that this was one of their better performances of the season.