Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has condemned the behaviour from a section of his side’s fans in Sunday’s Madrid derby, but warned Thibaut Courtois over “acting the victim”.
The game had to be temporarily suspended shortly after Real Madrid’s opening goal as Courtois was targeted by a number of missiles from a section of Atletico supporters, many of whom wore masks to conceal their identities.
When the game was initially halted, Simeone entered the pitch to have words with Courtois, whose celebration of his side’s goal appeared to incite the issue.
Asked what he told the Madrid goalkeeper, Simeone said: “I told him to be calm, but I also said that [what he did] absolutely does not justify this response: we do not need these people [in the stands].
“We need to be careful with acting the victim – you see clearly that Courtois went to the fans [gesturing] and laughs and that makes this happen too.”
Atletico would go on to net a stoppage-time equaliser but Simeone was in no mood to celebrate a point and used his time in front of the press to continue his criticism of both supporters and Courtois.
“We all have to help,” Simeone warned. “The people who threw those lighters, as also happened at the Bernabeu when Courtois was our player and he was hit in his head, are not doing well. But we, the protagonists, probably don’t help either when we underestimate people, we burden people, we provoke people and people get angry.
“We also have to see the place of the protagonist that we have, try to remain calm, understand the situations. You can celebrate a goal, but you can’t celebrate it by looking at the stands, pointing at them and making faces at them, because then people get angry. [The fan response] is not justified, but neither is what started out justified because otherwise, we’re always the victim.”
