Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has said that he is pleased that their game plan to frustrate Barcelona's attacking play paid dividends in the 0-0 draw between the two sides on Saturday.
Both teams remain tied on 50 points at the top of the La Liga table following a stalemate at the Vicente Calderon, which Simeone feels is remarkable considering the difference in cost of the respective squads.
"We have a lot of respect for Barcelona, there is a small difference of about €400m between us but we were able to counter that with fight and commitment," he told reporters.
"The two teams played to their strengths in order to hurt the opposition. It was a competitive game, both teams created chances, albeit not many. Some games finish 0-0 and some fans want to see five goals and they are disappointed when they don't, but we approached the game with intelligence.
"Barca normally score a lot of goals in every game. We didn't want that to happen and, although we didn't have that many chances, I'm very happy with the performance my players produced."
You can read Sports Mole's in-depth analysis of the match here.
Joe Fish
