Simeone: “I love the spirit of my team”

Cholo Simeone gave a lot of value to Atlético's draw at Montjuïc. “The game was not easy to play and the truth is that I love the spirit with which my boys compete. We went for the 4-3, Correa had the chance, Sorloth's... and in the end it was 4-4. It was an open game against a very difficult opponent but we have our tools,” he said in a hoarse voice in the press room.

For Diego Simeone, one of the keys to the draw was the substitutions: “I understood that we needed legs inside and with Correa we could have that depth and courage to play up front. With Sorloth and with Julián, who did an incredible job today. Lino also came in very well on the left. I think the team felt more and more comfortable. You could even see that we could win.”

The Atlético coach was annoyed by the goals from set pieces: “Having two goals conceded from set pieces is annoying. We can improve. But it was a game in which I knew this could happen. Against a team like Barcelona it is impossible for them not to score a goal. To beat them you have to score goals. Turning around a result at their ground, with 4-2... was not easy,” he said.

The Atlético coach explained how he felt about the goals: “When we were 0-2 after five minutes I said to myself, they are making it very easy for us and don't believe them, don't be so happy. When we scored 4-2 I thought we were having a really bad time and at the end when we equalised I said to myself that we had rounded off a night in which we surely made our fans happy.”

Simeone does not want to think about the return match yet: “4-2 was a tough result against a rival like Barcelona, ​​but 4-4 equals the tie. And there is still a long way to go until April 2. There are many matches ahead, especially this Saturday's against Athletic. The time will come to think about the return match.”

Julian Alvarez “We played a great game”

On the pitch, Julián Álvarez spoke to the microphone and expressed his satisfaction with the draw: “I don’t know if this draw feels like a victory to us, but when you’re two goals down on a pitch as difficult as this one, against one of the best teams, we know that we played a great game and that we still have 90 minutes left.”

For the Argentine striker, the good thing is that “we have always been in the game, with our heads up and thinking that we can do it. We always work this way and the team shows it. Humility and work always pays off. We are a great group and today it was demonstrated again with our weapons.”