Sometimes it’s about fighting preconceived ideas. Solidarity between coaches is not an urban legend. Even on the evenings of defeat, Diego Simeone never forgets to greet his counterpart. “He is a very good coach, a great coach and he has shown it over all these years of work,” explained the Argentine technician from Atlético de Madrid on Wednesday evening, speaking to Canal +, about Bruno Genesio at the outcome of his team’s setback against Lille in the Champions League (3-1).
However, “El Cholo” was in a rather sullen mood, angered by the disputed penalty awarded to Lille and converted by Jonathan David which turned the match around in the second half while the two clubs were tied (1-1). “There’s nothing, explain to me why the referee blew the whistle.” For a hand? Nobody touched the ball? I really hope that we will see something, that UEFA will tell us that the referee did the right thing by blowing the whistle. These are mistakes that can happen in football, but we were really unlucky,” Simeone said at a press conference.
He equals Jürgen Klopp
Bruno Genesio brushed aside the issue in front of the media. “I haven’t even seen the images again, you’ll have to ask the referee, it’s a shame to sum up the match like that,” underlines the former Rennes coach. We managed to come back to the score, there is no reason to dispute anything about the equalizer, nor about the third goal. You have to recognize when a team is better and tonight we were better than Atlético,” he explained.
By pinning Diego Simeone on his hunt, Genesio is equal to a certain Jürgen Klopp. At 58, he becomes the second technician in the world to have beaten Pep Guardiola in September 2018 (2-1), José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and now Diego Simeone in the European Cup. For the record, the cutter of crowned heads offered himself the last 3 this season since it all started in August by dominating Fenerbahçe of the Portuguese Special One during the 3rd round of qualifying for the Champions League (2-1, 1 -1). And the best was yet to come with this success against Real Madrid, holders of the trophy, on October 2 (1-0).
