Plenty of Liverpool fans voiced their agreement with one observation made by opposition manager Diego Simeone following last night’s Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid.
Speaking after his team’s 3-2 victory, which came following 30 minutes of extra time with the tie level at 1-1 at the end of normal time, the Argentine said that the away goals rule was “unfair”, even though it benefitted his team as they had an additional half-hour in which to score (as per Liverpool Echo).
Even had Marcos Llorente’s first goal in the 97th minute been the only one Atletico scored last night, it would have been enough to take them through as, at 2-1 on the night and after a 1-0 win in Madrid, the La Liga side would have progressed on away goals. Coincidentally, Atletico got past the Reds via that method in the 2010 Europa League semi-finals after the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.
Simeone feels that his team had an unfair advantage in having 30 more minutes than Liverpool in which to find an away goal and stated his intentions to raise the issue at the next UEFA coaches’ meeting (as per Liverpool Echo), with his stance drawing appreciation from these Reds fans on Twitter:
Bloody well said Simeone, thats class
— Hardeep Singh (@HardeepSF) March 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/kmathiesond/status/1237989719897772032
Bloody Simeone! Why you gotta be such a likeable coach??? When Klopp departs Simeone is the man for the job
— Kev (@kevboknows) March 12, 2020
I agree with him. Away goals shouldn’t count in extra time
— Bango (@nkosi_92) March 11, 2020
Appreciate this from Simeone, UEFA definitely need to look into this rule going forward.
— Abhinav Roy (@abhinavroy001) March 12, 2020
Fair play to Simeone.
— Richard (@Ergenton) March 12, 2020
To be fair that’s actually a good point. Never thought of that.
— Road to #19 (@OwnHalfAlonso) March 11, 2020
Liverpool fans, is Simeone right to point out the apparent injustice of the away goals rule? Was it a nice touch for him to call it out despite his team benefitting from it? Have your say by commenting below!
