Diego Simone, the coach of Atletico Madrid has urged his team to forget the result of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final match against city rivals Real Madrid. Real won the match by 3-0 as Christian Ronaldo scored another hat-trick to make Real strong favourites for the finals scheduled early in June at Cardiff.
Speaking to reporters after the match, an obviously disappointed Simone urged his team to look forward to the next week’s return leg, insisting that the match was not beyond them.
Simone said, “We need to forget about this game.
“It seems impossible, but it is football and football have these unexpected things that make it marvellous.
“Until the last drip of hope is gone, we will give it everything we have.”
An obviously elated Real coach, Zinedine Zidane was full of praise for his team, especially Christiano Ronaldo.
He said, “Cristiano is a goalscorer. He is unique. All the players were brilliant.
“I am happy with what I am doing here and with the players, we played a great game. We can hurt any side with our weapons.”