Cerezo: No Racism Tonight - Just Football

In the aftermath of the late, late draw for the rojiblancos, Cerezo said, "We had a good game, and five or six players who came into the starting line-up today were excellent.

"The first half belonged to Liverpool, but the second was quite clearly Atlético's.

"We are reassured by having seven points, because that's a good amount to put us into the quarter finals."

Atlético had been in the firing line of late after UEFA punished them for disorderly conduct and racism among their fans.

Indeed, tonight's encounter was originally to have been moved away from the Spanish capital by the governing body, only for this decision to be altered on appeal.

Cerezo, then, was keen to play up the good behaviour of the fans.

He remarked, "The two fanbases have set an example. It was all about the spectacle on the pitch. There was no racism, nor xenophobia: just football. There were no incidents because the crowds behaved brilliantly."

Looking ahead, he concluded, "Now we must look to the future, and winning at Villarreal.

"We've had bad luck in our last two (Liga) games, but what we're interested in now is reaching the next round of the Champions League.

"Atético have a team good enough to play in Europe, both in quality and quantity."


I Am A Fascist - Abbiati
Weary Revs struggle to keep pace