Why Atletico Madrid’s ‘Ballgate’ Proved Diego Simeone’s Unique Passion

Hopefully they’ve got a better suffix for such things in Spain, but over here we’ll probably call it “Ballgate.”

As Malaga set off on a counter-attack late in the first half of their clash with Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday, a second ball suddenly shot into view from the left touchline near the Atletico bench, thrown in the direction of the 21-year-old winger Ricardo Horta as he raced forward.

Share Tweet

Despite seeing double, the young Portuguese was able to keep his eye on the ball that mattered, continuing a quick break which ultimately led to nothing. But where had that other ball come from? It was hard to escape the conclusion that Atletico had been up to no good.

In reality, it was probably just an overenthusiastic ballboy or the late returning of the ball from the crowd—Malaga had just taken a throw-in—but such was the fuss surrounding a fairly crazy few seconds, when the music finally stopped Diego Simeone had been sent to the stands.

As detailed by ESPN FC’s Dermot Corrigan, in La Liga, the coach is responsible for the behaviour of the bench, so Simeone quite literally took one for the team when he was banished for the second period.

He seemed quite philosophical about it in his post-match press conference, though, saying: “It’s clear …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com