Ademola Lookman has heaped praises on Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone and his teammates, in the wake of their convincing 4-0 win over 10-man Barcelona in Thursday’s Copa del Rey semifinal first leg clash, SportPremi reports.
The Rojiblancos played host to the La Liga champions at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano and took the first leg initiative after a very clinical performance.
They produced one of the best first half performances in their history, scoring four times as they put one foot into the final of the competition.
Joan Garcia allowed a backpass from Eric Garcia to trickle under his foot and enter the net inside the first 10 minutes to set the tone for a comfortable night for the hosts.
Antoine Griezmann doubled the advantage soon afterwards, before Lookman added his name to the scoresheet after he was set up by Julian Alvarez.
The Nigerian forward turned provider for Alvarez minutes later for a fourth, as Atletico took a four-goal lead into the break.
Despite Barcelona’s improvement in the second half, the home side held on for a famous victory ahead of the second leg on March 3.
Lookman hails Atletico’s performance against Barcelona
Lookman made it two goals from three matches since arriving at Atletico Madrid for €40 million during the winter transfer window, as well as also providing two assists.
Speaking after the match, the Nigerian forward praised the overall team performance on the night.
“I’m very, very happy. Of course, it’s nice to score, but I think the performance of the team was top tonight. In both boxes we were clinical, and we showed togetherness today that was impeccable”, the Super Eagles star said after the match.
“We got that energy from our fans tonight, they were amazing, so we are glad.”
The expectation of us was clear. We knew what we had to do today because the stakes are very high. Today was a match for us to go out there and show what we are all about and we did. It was a great performance.
Of course, it’s a big victory. But we have a few more games in between before we play them away, so we must keep the same mindset and the same focus in those matches, which will take us to the other semi final. We are looking forward to the days ahead”, Lookman added.
The 28-year-old also hailed the quality of the squad and was excited about his combination with strike partner Alvarez.
“They are top, top players with amazing ability and amazing talent. It is very nice to play with these type of players, to work with them and to have the same goal to win. That’s very important.
You always want to score as an attacker, always looking to get into dangerous positions, so I just try to be there at the right moment at the right time”, Lookman concluded.
Atletico Madrid will now shift their focus to the Spanish La Liga, where they will face Rayo Vallecano this weekend.
