Celtic and Atletico Madrid have already played out both their group stage games in the Champions League this season. The Hoops managed a 2-2 draw at Parkhead but lost 6-0 away in the Spanish capital. A lot has been made of the performances, results and Daizen Maeda’s red card already. But another major talking point coming out of the two fixtures was Diego Simeone.
Simeone barely acknowledged Brendan Rodgers’ handshake when the two teams met at Parkhead. And then, it seemed he did not shake it all in the reverse fixture at the Metropolitano Stadium.
This of course did not go down well with Celtic fans and many in the media. But it looks like this is not the first time that Simeone has done something similar.
Simeone had found himself in the headlines a couple of years back as well, when he did not shake Jurgen Klopp’s hand. The Liverpool manager’s comments from back then have emerged once again following the recent complaints from Celtic supporters regarding the Atletico Madrid boss’ behaviour.
Klopp’s old comments emerge after Celtic fans complain
As reported by The Standard back in October 2021, Klopp told BT Sport (now TNT Sports):
"“The situation is clear, I wanted to shake his hand – he didn’t want to.“His reaction was not good, mine was not so good as well but we are both emotional so when I see him next time, we will shake hands definitely.”"
Thus, it looks like Simeone’s actions were not something that was particularly directed towards Celtic or Rodgers. Instead, it seems like he does not prefer shaking hands after a game.
If that is what he prefers, then fair enough. He can certainly decide what he wants to do and what he does not. The most important thing was the result on the day.
Unfortunately, that did not go Celtic’s way either. They lost 6-0 at the hands of Atletico Madrid. Losing to the Spanish giants would not have been unexpected, the margin and manner of defeat have certainly drawn quite a bit of criticism from the fans as well as the football media.