Diego Simeone Insists Atletico Madrid Must Show Pride Intensity and Courage

While it took a great deal of effort, Atletico Madrid walked away victorious in their clash with Real Sociedad and their manager Diego Simeone was delighted with the result, however, he encouraged his team to show further pride, intensity and courage in upcoming matches.

The visitors went ahead early with a 28th-minute penalty scored by forward Willian Joseph, causing signs of concerns amongst onlookers at the Wanda Metropolitano. 

However, Filipe Luis pulled one back shortly after the break and a late winner from Antoine Griezmann secured all three points for the Red and White of Madrid.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/GettyImages

During his post-match press conference, Simeone explained: "We must show pride, intensity and courage, we are happy to have come through a difficult match, it was a struggle. In the second half, beyond some mistakes, we showed determination."

With Barcelona slipping up in their game earlier in the day, Atletico seized the opportunity to close the gap of the leaders to six points, however, Simeone insisted that talk about the title should be on hold.

"The championship is very long, now we must think about what we have to do in London. In LaLiga, we can't afford to look beyond the next match."

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/GettyImages

The 47-year-old also noted the change in energy that the team has shown since the international break and how it helped in the game.

"There is a renewed energy within the group, this helped us to go the extra step today. We made several substations and didn't stop looking for the goal."

The importance of the game was shown by Diego Simeone as he embraced the fans at the full-time whistle with an emphatic fist gesture to the home fans, which he later referenced.

"It was the way I always tell my players to play, the response of the players was fantastic. I prefer to win or lose by playing in the way we did in the second half."