Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Jugen Klopp reacted to Liverpool's shocking loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League 16th finals by criticizing Atletico's play style, saying they should play "proper football" instead of banking on counerattacks. Atletico beat Liverpool - the defending European champions - 3-2 after extra time in the second leg of their last-16 tie at Anfield. In the regular 90 minutes of play, Gini Wijnaldum gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead, requiring extra time to deterine which of the two teams would dominate on aggregate, given that Liverpool lost 1-0 at Madrid in the first leg. Four minutes into extra time, Roberto Firminio gave Liverpool the lead once more. Within a short space of time, Marcos Llorente fired two goals for Atletico, and Alvaro Morata sealed Liverpool's fate with a late goal, as Atletico won 4-2 on aggregate.  Atletico only had half as many shots on target as premier League chart leaders Liverpool and had less ball possession. They were however able ...

Champions League fixtures return this week, and Atletico Madrid face Juventus today at Turin. Diego Simeone - Atleti coach - told the press Atletico would be facing a team and not Cristiano Ronaldo as an individual despite his goal-scoring prowess.  "Cristiano Ronaldo is a champion and we can't say anything," he said. "He is number one, extraordinary and always makes the difference. "However, I don't think it's Ronaldo against Atletico, as we have come to play against Juve." He also said Atletico Madrid follow his game-by-game philosophy and do not speculate on their qualification to the Champions League round of 16. "We have a way of working, thinking about tomorrow's game and then there are a lot of results that can generate satisfaction or not," he continued. "Then we will look at the match that remains. "The opponent is strong, with a powerful squad and a coach with a very strong style that he is transm...

Atletico manager Diego Simeone has simplified the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo unending debate in his own way, making a compelling argument as to the uniqueness of each player. Simeone's arguments undeniably bear much weight as he has had to face both on many occasions. Simeone has dealt with the duo since taking over as Atletico Madrid manager in 2011. Per Marca, Simeone said, “What I consider is that in a team with fewer solutions, Ronaldo is a better fit because he provides many solutions." We are talking about very fine margins of how a team plays. Cristiano can decide a game in a different way, he doesn’t need ten attacks. He scored two headers against us and we were out.” “Both need a team but the differences are very small. Lionel, in an attacking team always plays better.” “Ronaldo can win a game in two actions, he simplifies the situations. Messi is mesmerizing because he plays elaborate football. Leo plays in a team that compliments all of his talen...

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois have hit out at Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone for insinuating that Modric and Courtois won awards because they play for Real Madrid. In an interview with Croatian media outlet Sportske Novosti, Modric talked about his frustration at Simeone's alegations of favoritism towards Real Madrid. He said, "I understand why Simeone has defended his own players." “I understand why he believes Griezmann was the best but in doing so he feels the need to disparage Real Madrid and the players here. “There are suggestions that there is something else behind why Madrid players win these trophies, and that is not the case. “I have a lot of respect for Atletico and Simeone, their players and their fans – they are a great club and whey they defeat us, I acknowledge it and congratulate them. “But we have been hugely successful too, we have beaten them in two finals and it is not fair to say these achieveme...