Simeone Explains Crotch-Grab Celebration

Simeone Explains Crotch-Grab Celebration

By Our Reporter

Diego Simeone claims his reaction to his side's opener in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Juventus was his way of saying Atletico Madrid have "a lot of balls".

Jose Gimenez opened the scoring for the Spanish side just moments after the club had seen what appeared to be their first goal of the night ruled out when Alvaro Morata was deemed to have fouled Giorgio Chiellini before heading home.

The officials turned to VAR and judged the Spain international to have pushed the defender in the back, choosing to cut short the Rojiblancos' celebrations and leave the match locked at 0-0.

Gimenez, though, was on hand to slide home in the 78th minute, leading to Simeone's animated reaction, which involved the 48-year-old grabbing his crotch while gesticulating toward the stands.

"It means we have balls, a lot of balls," he told reporters when questioned about his celebration after the contest. "To start [Diego] Costa and Koke after they hadn't played for a month takes balls."

Despite not backing down much, the manager did offer a bit of an apology to anybody who was offended by his actions.

"I did it as a player in Lazio-Bologna and I did it again to show our fans that we have cojones," he told Sky Sport Italia. "It wasn't aimed at the other team, I was turning towards our own supporters."