Under the cover of apparently “doing the right thing,” I think that Diego Simeone shamed himself, his club and LaLiga on Sunday during and after Atlético Madrid’s heated, controversial 1-1 draw with Real Madrid.
By now, you’ve no doubt seen that the derby was temporarily halted because of a hail of objects thrown at Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois, and that the eyes of the footballing world were turned to how that ugly situation was handled. There was brief danger that the Madrid Derbi, arguably LaLiga’s biggest game of the season to date, would be abandoned — a draconian, historic step, albeit one that, at the height of the ugliness, was beginning to feel merited.
One of the saddest things was not only how Simeone behaved and spoke but the fact there will be nobody (bar you and I) to hold him to account. He’s so central and so important to Atleti that it’s unlikely he’ll be punished or even reprimanded. Yes, it’s true that the Argentine manager talked about the need to expose and expel some of those hooligans who pelted Courtois with lighters and coins, among other things, but both his midmatch actions and his subsequent words deserve critical scrutiny.
Before the frenetic, ferocious match was halted and suspended for over 20 minutes, Madrid’s players drew the attention of referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer to the objects being thrown. Then, as Courtois was about to take a free kick in his own penalty area, he stopped, showed the referee that there was still a shower of lighters being thrown, and that was that. Announcements were made over the sound system to warn the fans that the game was in jeopardy — first, suspending the game and then, if the behaviour continued, a full abandonment — and then the players were sent into the dressing rooms.
Simeone’s unacceptable behaviour began when, after being involved in efforts to persuade fans to stop throwing things, he went to Madrid’s keeper and, with very clear sarcasm, signalled to the stadium that he, Simeone, held Courtois to be partly responsible for what had happened.
The context is this. Before Éder Militão scored for the Spanish champions, some Atleti fans behind the Madrid goalmouth were heard loudly singing “Courtois, we hope you die!” They reportedly said it over and over again. Then, when his team opened the scoring, Courtois punched the air, ran back towards his own goalmouth, leapt up a couple of times and made a couple of “sing what you want, we’ve scored!” gestures.
It was arguably unwise, but also a natural, spur-of-the-moment and wholly understandable act in light of having already been pelted with abuse and objects. Courtois’ actions were well within the bounds of acceptability and comprehension, and nobody was harmed. Nothing he did in any possible way explains dozens of people then launching missiles at him.
When Simeone came back across the pitch, having been behind the Madrid goalmouth to try and negotiate with some of the infamous “Frente Atlético” fans that they stop throwing objects, the Atleti manager confronted Courtois, ironically clapped at him, offered a thumbs-up gesture and blamed him.
Thirty seconds earlier, he was pleading with fans to stop throwing objects that could injure a professional football player, camera operator, photographer, ball boy or ball girl. Awful from the Atleti manager: immediately afterwards pointing the finger of blame at Courtois in front of the eyes of the stadium.
Postmatch, Simeone’s words about needing to weed out and ban those who behaved this way were welcome and appropriate, but again, he immediately invalidated them by passing the blame to Courtois.
The most incendiary phrase was one Simeone gave to broadcasters when, specifically asked to be the voice of Atlético in light of what had happened, he said: “We all have to help. Remember, this has already happened to Courtois in the Bernabéu when he was our player? His head was cut. Possibly we, the protagonists, don’t help when we wind people up, provoke them and people get angry.
“Obviously, [the fans] don’t have any other remedy than to respond in a bad way … which isn’t good, but we the protagonists have to accept our role and seek calm. One can celebrate a goal, but not by looking at the fans behind the goalmouth and gesturing to them, because the fans get angry.”
Asked whether he was justifying what had happened, Simeone denied the claim. “No, I’m not, but nor am I justifying what was done to start things.”
In the postgame news conference, Simeone repeated that the club should single out those who throw things and ban them. (One supporter has already been handed a permanent ban from attending matches.) He then added that “for balance,” those “protagonists involved in the game who incite or provoke the fans into actions like this also need to be punished.” At this point, Simeone thumped the table to, in my opinion, emphasise where he felt the greater culpability lay.
So here, in my view, is the scoreboard.
Thank you, Simeone, for pointing out that those who attend Atleti matches wearing masks, which makes identification and punishment difficult, should be kicked out by the club when they launch dangerous objects towards the pitch. Thank you also for admitting that sanctions for those who provoke fans should apply equally to you when you’re guilty of it.
But the rest of what he said — to the local broadcaster and then in the news conference — was indefensible. It was profoundly ill-judged, will serve as fodder for those committed to engaging in bad behavior, and will go down as a lost opportunity to address this real issue.
Atleti needed much, much better from Simeone, but thankfully there are some who come out of all of this with their reputations enhanced, and first in line is the 30-year-old referee, Mateo Busquets Ferrer.
His appointment for this match was heavily criticised when announced on Thursday. He’s young and inexperienced; this was his first Madrid derbi; and frankly, he had made two pretty big errors a week earlier when Villarreal lost at home to Barcelona. But he’s talented, the referee committee had faith in him and he duly excelled.
Icily calm, Busquets Ferrer followed the protocols to the letter, offered clear communication, behaved decisively and looked as if he was born for crisis management. Full kudos.
And finally, a “thank you” to the real Atleti fans who, when the team went back postmatch to applaud the very section of the ground where the offending fans had been standing behind Courtois’ goal, booed and whistled that section — and the players for going over to them.
The vast majority of Atleti fans are ferocious and loyal, but fair and admirable. If only Simeone had their conscience and realized that the way to keep Atleti mighty, relevant and respected is not to appease the offending fans but to isolate them, hold them culpable and ensure they aren’t allowed back, without seeking to pass the buck to an opponent.
