Baku. 15 February. REPORT.AZ/ "This season's Champions League has not been successful for us".
Report informs, Diego Simeone, the head coach of Spain's Atletico Madrid, said at a press conference prior to the first 1/16 finals match of the Europa League with Copenhagen today.
He said he was expected his team to stay in the group because Atletico twice reached the final and for the first time - semifinals in the Champions League over the last 5 seasons: After repeat success, we had to play worse role. If we join Champions League again, this factor will help us in better shape to cope with the work”.
According to Simeone, Atletico in the group stage was not hit in the last game with the English "Chelsea” ended in 1:1 draw: “The blow occurred very naturally. In the fifth round Chelsea won Qarabag and we defeated Roma. However, what has happened so far had consequences for Atletico.
Notably, in the group C, Atletico finished the game in third place with 7 points. The match against Qarabag which was last in the list with 2 points ended in a draw (0:0, 1:1). As a result, Atletico suspended competition in the Euroleague. Italian club Roma and the English club Chelsea reached 1/8 finals of Champions League.