Diego Simeone praises Arsenal after Atletico Madrid exit

Diego Simeone did not leave the semi-final pointing at the referee. After Arsenal beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the second leg and went through 2-1 on aggregate, he praised the English side's quality, their resources and the way they handled the tie. Bukayo Saka scored on 44 minutes, right on the stroke of half-time, and Simeone said Atletico fell short in the decisive moments.

Why Simeone refused the excuse route

Simeone's clearest line was the simplest one. "If we were eliminated, it's because our opponent deserved to advance," he said. "They were clinical in the first half and earned their place. But what I feel is tranquility, peace; the team gave everything they had."

He pushed that even further when asked about the Griezmann incident. "I'm not going to dwell on it because that would be making excuses, and I don't want to make excuses for anything," he said. Marc Pubill was booked on 81 minutes after the challenge linked to the Griezmann penalty appeal, but Simeone did not build his post-match case around it.

That is the sensible stance, and the more convincing one. The tie was not decided by a single complaint, it was decided by Arsenal's control of the key moments and Atletico's failure to take enough of theirs.

Arsenal's edge was the part Simeone could not ignore

Simeone also praised Arsenal in a way managers usually avoid after elimination. "We congratulate Arsenal; they competed well," he said. "They have a team and a manager that I like. They follow a consistent approach, with significant financial resources that allow them to compete like this."

That framing matches the numbers from the tie. Arsenal won all 8 Champions League matches in this season's standings, scored 23 goals in those 8 games and conceded just 4. Bukayo Saka's goal, the only one of the second leg, summed up the difference in sharpness.

Arsenal were not simply lucky to get through. They were steadier over the run, and they looked like a side with more control when the match tightened. Mikel Arteta is not the focus of Simeone's comments, but he was clearly part of the praise, along with the depth and structure behind the team.

Simeone's point about resources is his own reading of why Arsenal are where they are, and he made it plainly enough. For Atletico Madrid, the more immediate reality is that they reached a Champions League semi-final for the first time in 9 years and still came up short. On this evidence, Simeone's refusal to lean on the Griezmann incident says more about the tie than any complaint would have done.