Atletico Madrid captain Koke Resurreccion has given a scathing assessment of their performance in La Liga, as the curtain came down on the season on Sunday night. The 34-year-old came off frustrated following his side’s 5-1 defeat to Villarreal at La Ceramica, which closed out the season for both sides.
Los Colchoneros could have overtaken Villarreal to snatch third place with a win, but for just the second time in Diego Simeone’s tenure, his side conceded five times. It was also the second time that Atletico have finished fourth under Simeone in a full season, placing in the top three on every other occasion. Finishing below the Yellow Submarine is also worth around €7m in prize money.
Koke: “Liga season has been a disaster”
Speaking to the press after their 5-1 loss, Koke had a blunt and honest review of their performance in the league.
“[It leaves] A bitter taste in my mouth. In the Champions League, exciting; in the Cup, the penalties; in the League, we’ve been a disaster because we haven’t been able to fight for the title. We need to be higher up the table and let this serve us well for next season,” he told Movistar+ via Marca.
Diego Simeone: “Season between good and very good”
Simeone told Diario AS that he was pleased with the season overall though.
“I was always terrible with my grades; I didn’t do very well in school. We had a season that was somewhere between good and very good. Champions League semi-finals, Copa del Rey final, a total of 61 matches… Villarreal plays very well and had a very good league season, but they only competed in one competition. We came close to catching them; we had some very good moments: the Barcelona game, the victory over Real Madrid, lots of joy for our fans, even though everyone wants to win the league, not just finish third.”
Atletico Madrid had their best performance in the cup competitions in nearly a decade, but for the second time in three years, have finished outside the top four. It is set to be another busy summer this year, with fresh investors Apollo Sports Capital providing more optimism.
