Simeone proud of Atletico s overall performance after Spanish Cup loss

MADRID - Atletico Madrid were knocked out in the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday after a 1-0 defeat against Barcelona for a 5-4 aggregate loss but coach Diego Simeone was proud of his sides overall performance in the season.

Eliminated from the Champions League, Atletico suffered another massive blow with their Cup exit as they extended their winless run to six matches. All signs now point to a fourth consecutive trophy-less season as they trail leaders Barcelona by six points in the LaLiga standings.

Simeone, however, said he was still content.

The team has competed very well so far, in the Champions League we have competed very well, in the Cup too, we are having a good league season and we will continue, approaching it match by match, Simeone said at a press conference.

We are trying to keep improving to get closer and closer to the teams above us and to accept the place we are. I have no other thought than to continue with the same work, focusing on continuing in the best way possible in what is ahead of us in LaLiga, with our focus on Sevilla who are our next rival.

It seems like a tough pill to swallow to Atletico fans as they looked like a real contender for three major titles when they were in a two-month unbeaten run just four weeks ago.

They were head to head with Barca and Real on top of the LaLiga standings and secured direct qualification to the Champions League round of 16.

But they crashed back to Earth after a heartbreaking home loss on penalties to local rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League last month followed by a 4-2 home defeat against Barca a few days later in LaLiga when they allowed their rivals to