Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone has revealed why Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman had to come off the bench in his side’s 4-1 win over Club Brugge last night, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 28-year-old was in the starting eleven in the first leg at the Jan Breydelstadion, scoring the game’s second goal in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
Lookman was on the scoresheet again in Atletico’s league win over Espanyol, but was on the bench against Ivan Leko’s side last night.
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Why Lookman started on the bench against Club Brugge
The former Atalanta man came on in the final 20 minutes of the clash at the Wanda Metroplitano when Simeone’s side were already 2-1 up.
However, he made his presence felt, playing a one-two with Antoine Griezmann before laying the ball to Alexander Sørloth, who scored a hat-trick on the night.
After the game, Atletico boss Diego Simeone revealed that he wanted to give his team the best possible chance of winning while managing the workload on the players, hence the decision to bench Lookman.
“The feeling that was in the air. They were attacking to win, and we were attacking for what, to keep up with them?
“That’s what we talked about: we had to increase the intensity of our pressing and be more decisive in our attacking positioning,” the Argentine coach said in quotes revealed by Into the Calderon.
“After Johnny’s goal, which opened the way for us, and with the changes. It wasn’t easy to leave Lookman and Griezmann out.
“Julián [Alvarez] had been playing well lately. You have to make decisions, and I’m excited to see that those who come on do so in a way that supports the thinking. It was difficult for us; it’s not easy to decide.
“Complaints? Not at all, because there’s nothing you can do about it. Be prepared to perform, try to rotate, or rather, manage it better.
“Sometimes it will go wrong, other times we’ll get it right. I have to manage it, and we will try to get the best out of it for the club,” the 2014 La Liga-winning coach concluded.
Los Rojiblancos will get to know their round of sixteen opponents on Friday before taking on Real Oviedo the following day.
