Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has insisted that Antoine Griezmann should be devoid of any blame for his performance in the second leg against Sporting Lisbon.
The French striker wasted a couple of big chances to kill off the Europa League quarter-final tie, which Atleti lost 1-0 on the night to scrape through 2-1 on aggregate.
Simeone feels that Griezmann did well to adapt following the loss to injury of Diego Costa and Lucas Hernandez, however, despite never looking likely to add to his 17 goals from his previous 16 outings.
"It is impossible for Griezmann to be more decisive than he already is for Atletico," he told reporters after the match. "We're very happy because once again, the team reinvented itself.
"Lucas and Costa got injured and the team kept on playing with a massive amount of effort. I didn't expect anything else from the match. Nowadays, nothing is easy. Sporting CP are a great rival.
"We could've scored two goals, but in the end we suffered to qualify for another European semi-final. Sporting have a great coach (Jorge Jesus).
"We said it in Madrid. With important absences, we had to rearrange and the team responded. That speaks very well of Sporting. It makes us happy to have eliminated a tough opponent. The more you advance the harder the rivals are."
Atletico are reportedly preparing a lucrative new contract to keep Griezmann at the Wanda Metropolitano beyond the end of this season.
Daniel Lewis
