Atletico Madrid full-back Kieran Trippier has defended his side's tactics during their Champions League last-16 tie against Liverpool.
Atletico knocked the reigning European champions out of the competition before football was suspended due to the coronavirus, winning 1-0 at home and 3-2 after extra time at Anfield to progress 4-2 on aggregate.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp criticised Diego Simeone's style of play after the match, suggesting that they have the talent to play more attractive football, but Trippier insists that their tactics worked better than if they had gone toe-to-toe with the Premier League leaders.
"People have this perception that we're a defensive side, but I think they're getting too carried away with the way we played against Liverpool. If you go there and go toe-to-toe with Liverpool, you're going to get beat 6-0. I don't know what people expect," Trippier is quoted as saying by The Mirror.
"You see pundits complaining because we did defend, but did they expect us to go there and play attacking football, especially with Liverpool playing the way that they're playing at the moment? You need to go there with a plan and we did that. We did have to defend, but the most important thing is that we got the win.
"We knew they would blow up because of the amount of pressure they'd applied and the amount of energy they'd put into the game. We knew they'd slow down. It took us over 100 minutes, but we won 3-2.
"People can complain as much as they want, but we thought it was necessary for that type of game. As I've got older it has stopped bothering me. Liverpool didn't put their chances away and we beat them in both legs. It worked."
Trippier joined Atletico from Spurs last summer and has so far made 26 appearances for the Spanish outfit.
Barney Corkhill
