Diego Simeone calls for Liverpool to take action after confrontation with Anfield spectators
Diego Simeone has called for Liverpool FC to take action after being ‘insulted for 90 minutes’ during his Atletico Madrid team’s defeat at Anfield on Wednesday night.
A rollercoaster Champions League clash had a tumultuous ending as Virgil van Dijk scored a stoppage time winner and the visiting manager was shown a red card after a confrontation with some home supporters and a touchline melee.
After the disappointment of seeing his team being denied a point to begin their European campaign, the 55-year-old spoke out about what he felt was inhumane treatment from some spectators in L4 which had provoked him into an argument.
Simeone hits out over Anfield ‘insults’
Simeone said in his post-match press conference (via BBC Sport): “We [managers] are in a position where we are protagonists/standard bearers, so in the same manner that we fight against racism and insults in stadiums today, we could also fight on behalf of the managers, against the insults we receive throughout the whole game.
“It’s not easy to be in the position we are in and receive insults for the whole game. I saw it from far away after the third goal. I saw the third goal go in and I turned, the insults continued, and well, I’m a person.”
When asked about the nature of the ‘insults’, Simeone replied: “The truth is I cannot remember exactly. I don’t want to enter into the situation.
“The thing I have is that I have to maintain my position. I need to know how to withstand everything that happens in front of the dugout, and know I cannot fix society. I, and whichever manager, has to live with this because it happens all of the time.
“My reaction isn’t justifiable but do you know what it is like to be insulted for 90 minutes? I hope Liverpool can improve that aspect and that when they identify the person who did that, there will be consequences.”
What exactly was said to Simeone to trigger such a reaction?
Without knowing the nature of what was said to Simeone, it’s difficult to judge who’s mainly in the wrong.
If the Atletico manager was met with excessive personal abuse (e.g. comments about his family), obviously such behaviour can’t be condoned and he couldn’t be blamed for losing his temper.
If it was nothing more than ordinary banter, though, you’d expect someone in his position to have a sufficiently thick skin to let such heckles pass over without getting into a heated confrontation.
It must also be said that Simeone really doesn’t help himself sometimes with his own conduct – Liverpool fans won’t have forgotten his over-the-top celebrations when his team beat us at Anfield in 2020, and last night he was almost playing as a winger, he was that far outside his technical area at times.
Given the history between him and the Reds (he refused to shake Jurgen Klopp’s hand after a match in 2021), the latest stoppage-time win for Arne Slot’s side will have felt all the more euphoric for Kopites, who’ve become accusomed to last-gasp heroics in the early weeks of this season!
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