Diego Simeone explained why he rates Barcelona as the ‘best team in La Liga’ after his Atletico Madrid side drew with arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Real Madrid held on to top spot in the Spanish top-flight as Kylian Mbappe’s second-half goal cancelled out Julian Alvarez’s first-half penalty at the Bernabeu.
Atletico were awarded a controversial penalty following a VAR check after Aurelien Tchouameni was adjudged to have fouled Samuel Lino.
Former Manchester City forward Alvarez audaciously chipped the ball down the middle past the diving Thibaut Courtois to silence the home crowd.
A derby win would have sent Atletico Madrid top of La Liga but Mbappe scored an equaliser shortly after the interval with his 16th league goal of the season.
Jude Bellingham’s blocked shot gave Mbappe the chance to level and the England midfielder continued to threaten as Real Madrid chased a winner, hitting the crossbar with a header and seeing a shot saved by Jan Oblak.
The score remained 1-1, however, leaving Real Madrid just one point above Atletico Madrid in the La Liga table and five ahead of Barcelona, who can cut the gap when they visit Sevilla on Sunday.
‘I still insist that Barcelona is the best team in La Liga,’ Simeone said after the Madrid derby.
‘They attack very well, they have incredible speed in their players, and they play very well as a team. Let’s see if they win tomorrow. It’ll be fun to see the journalists enjoy this tight race at the top.’
Discussing his team’s performance in the Madrid derby, Simeone added: ‘I think in the first half, we had a very good first half.
‘We weren’t as clinical in the final metres to take advantage of the chances that we had. We could have taken those better.
‘In the second half, it started early with their goal, they played more intensely in the second half.
‘After 20 minutes or so, we had more important chances, Julian, Llorente twice, and in the end it ended with a draw where both teams probably feel that we could have taken more.’
Asked whether he felt it was a case of two points dropped rather than a point gained, Simeone added: ‘I respect all opinions. I see what I see, what I said before.
‘We could’ve taken our chances, our counters, controls close to the box, a little better, with more clarity as we have in other games.
‘In the second half, it was a different game and they pushed more. Their goal, then they hit the woodwork. And it ended with that situation.
‘There were chances to take the game, but we couldn’t do it clearly. That meant that we had to draw. Obviously, we had the feeling that we could’ve won it for much of the game.’
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, felt his team ‘deserved more’ and refused to discuss Atletico’s controversial penalty.
‘I think we deserved more,’ he said. ‘It was a very good game in the second half. The first half was totally different.
‘We came out with good feelings, especially in the second half. The penalty situation affected the team. We played too slowly before.
‘In the second half we took advantage of the width of the field. It was a close, competitive match. As I said, we came out of the match with a draw, but encouraged.’
Real Madrid now turn their attentions to a mouth-watering Champions League play-off clash against Manchester City.
Atletico Madrid, already safely through to the knockout stages, face Celta Vigo next weekend.