Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid’s Supercopa de Espana battle with Real Madrid cost them in their La Liga opener with Rayo Vallecano.
The Spanish champions failed to find the back of the net against Rayo and were held to a goalless draw on Monday evening, just hours after watching Real Madrid beat Cordoba 2-0 and a day after seeing Barcelona beat Elche 3-0.
“We came from playing against Real Madrid on Tuesday and Friday and the effort from these days could be felt in the second half,” Simeone told reporters.
“Being so high up you couldn’t see it as well, but I don’t think that having me on the field would’ve improved anything.”
Simeone, who has been banned from pitchside for eight games after appearing to slap a fourth official in the SuperCopa win, said that his side failed to take their chances.
“The first half, the team played very well. We had three clear chances of scoring, it was dynamic, but we couldn’t score.
“The game lasts 90 minutes, though. In the second half, Rayo were better. We didn’t play against a wall, we played against a team.”