Los Rojiblancos suffered defeat at the hands of La Granotas at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia with El Cholo taking the blame for the result.
Atletico Madrid had the chance of climbing back into European places if they earned a positive result against Levante in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863.
However, an opening ten-minute double salvo from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valdo-c35823 and Arouna Kone left them with nothing to show for their journey on the road.
The domestic defeat to a direct rival for the next edition of UEFA Champions League has severely dented Atletico’s chances, leaving manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Diego-c11058 Pablo Simeone taking the responsibility for the defeat.
El Cholo stated that the finger should be pointed at him for the away defeat and not the players, who worked hard on the pitch.
As he took the blame for the result, the Argentinean tactician was hopeful that they will qualify for the elite European club competition come the end of the season.
"My players did not disappoint me at all, quite the contrary," Simeone said while talking to reporters after the domestic encounter.
"I am responsible for what happened in the first 10 minutes because I could not make my players respond in a proper way.”
"Right after that, the team improved and in the second half we gave a good account of ourselves, considering we were playing away from home."
Simeone also took out time to explain why star signing, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Radamel-Falcao-c30276, did not start the match for the outfit from the Spanish capital.
He stated that the Colombian international was suffering from flu and it would have been unwise on his part to put him on the pitch from the get go.
Continuing on the topic, he downplayed Falcao’s presence on the pitch as he pointed towards the defensive crisis that led to Los Rojiblancos conceding the goals.
“He was not at 100 per cent and we understood that we would use him at the end if it was necessary and instead of him deploy http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Eduardo-Salvio-c12079, who was fresher."
Atletico Madrid continue their league adventures as they play host to Real Madrid at the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vicente-c36001 Calderon on Wednesday, April 11.
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