Diego Simeone, the head coach of Atlético Madrid, spoke in media statements following his team's victory over Deportivo La Coruña and qualification to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, analyzing his players' performance and Antoine Griezmann's decisive role in the match.

Simeone said about Griezmann: "As he scored the goal, the criticism was positive, I did not substitute him and I took off Julián instead because we saw he was closer to creating chances."

He added: "He scored a wonderful goal, Griezmann is a key player, and he still has the desire to compete and help the team."

The Argentine coach continued talking about how the match went: "We knew the team we were facing, a team with character and strong at home because they are brave."

He went on: "In the first half, we could have finished it off better, and in the second half it was more difficult, after the goal the opponent increased their attacks and we did not make good use of the counterattacks."

Simeone continued his statements about the absences: "What we discuss with Mateo or Carlos or Miguel, we do not announce, the club is working on what we need to help us compensate for the absence of Gallagher and Raspadori."

Regarding the missed opportunities, Simeone said: "I would have been more worried if we hadn’t created chances to score, the team constantly creates chances, we just need to improve the final touch and increase the impact of the key offensive players, and we will return to scoring the number of goals we are used to."

The Atlético Madrid coach concluded his statements by commenting on the team’s ambitions in the tournament, saying: "The biggest dream is to be at Atlético Madrid and wear this jersey, our goal is to reach the furthest possible stage in the Copa del Rey."