Diego Simeone credited the goalkeeping heroics of ‘statue’ Kiko Casilla as the reason for Atletico Madrid’s stalemate at Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.
Los Colchoneros failed to make any of their 11 shots on target count at Cornelia-El Prat, in what was their third successive draw, while their frustrating afternoon was compounded with a red card to Miranda during first-half injury time.
“We could’ve won if their goalkeeper [Kiko Casilla] had not been a statue,” the Coach said after the match.
“Their goalkeeper did a great job. I’d be more worried if we didn’t create any chances.
“I saw that the team had grown. We did everything to maintain stability [during the match].
“We had stability with and without the ball. With 10 men in the second half, we could’ve won but Casilla had a brilliant performance.
“We must congratulate the teams [challenging us for third place] because it means they’re doing the right things.
“Now we must continue, roll our sleeves up and wait until Tuesday [for the Champions League last-16 second leg against Bayer Leverkusen].
“[On Miranda’s dismissal], from where I could see, it looked like he jumped late but I can’t comment. The referee was closer [to the incident] than me.”