Atlético de Madrid has asked the Spanish Football Federation to postpone until Thursday next week the first leg of the Cup semi-final against Athletic scheduled for Wednesday the 7th of this month. President Enrique Cerezo was the first to show the discomfort that exists in the mattress club regarding this matter. Coach Cholo Simeone did the same at the end of yesterday’s league match against Rayo Vallecano.
“I’m a fan and it seems to me that they don’t respect the fan, it’s not that they don’t respect Atlético de Madrid. The Federation already knew before we played Sevilla that one of two things would happen and what happened afterwards, that Bilbao or Barcelona, they will play at the weekend,” said the Colchonero coach in a press conference.
Simeone continued his argument indicating that “if to play a semi-final as important for Spain, as the Copa del Rey, the Federation decides that they have two more days to prepare seems unfair to me. Have a good day, It’s normal, it can happen, it’s understandable.”
The Atlético coach concluded his explanation on the matter in the following way: “What is the difference between us playing on Wednesday or Thursday? Nothing. They don’t want to change it and I read it as a lack of respect for our fans because our “The fans deserve to reach a semi-final with the players at least without the difference of having to play four days, nothing happens. The other has one day, nothing happens; but not having two more days.”
Athletic will play tomorrow in the Liga against Mallorca and Atlético will do so on Sunday against Real Madrid. Then, unless there is a last-minute change, the two will meet in the first leg of the Metropolitan Cup semifinal. A few hours before the contention of yesterday’s clash against Rayo, President Cerezo also clarified that the mattress entity asked the Federation to postpone the clash against the lions by one day.
“I think they will grant us the postponement of the match against Athletic,” Cerezo himself told Radio Marca.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
