Diego Costa, Raúl García salute Atlético resolve
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Article summary
If Club Atlético de Madrid's 4-1 win against AC Milan looks one-sided, Diego Costa, Raúl García and Miranda admitted it was anything but as they eye the last eight.
Article top media content
Article body
After scoring his sixth and seventh UEFA Champions League goals of the season to help fire Club Atlético de Madrid past AC Milan, Diego Costa told UEFA.com he and his team-mates can enjoy themselves in the last eight. Also on target in the 4-1 home win, Raúl García said there was much to learn from Tuesday's round of 16 second leg, a 5-1 aggregate victory not telling the whole story. Indeed, for Miranda, Arda Turan's strike on half-time was key.
Diego Costa, Atlético forward
I'm doing well in the Champions League and I'm scoring a lot in the Liga too. We know this tournament has many great teams and that it is really special playing against them. Every game I play, I try to do my best and things are working out for me. [After Kaká equalised] we knew we had to remain calm in the ensuing minutes until things calmed down. We will look to enjoy ourselves in the next round. There will be fantastic teams in the last eight so there's no point choosing an opponent.
Raúl García, Atlético midfielder
The team is progressing nicely, we are showing hunger to get through the rounds. Our objective has been achieved so let's see what happens next. Knowing that we were facing difficult opponents, we are very happy [to have gone through]. It wasn't easy at all. We must remember and be conscious of the fact we had difficult moments tonight. However, I think our team is mature and we know how to tighten up when these moments arrive. In the end you saw how we managed to win.
Miranda, Atlético defender
We are going through a good spell and we want to continue that way. We know what our strengths are and we will fight until the end in order to do as well as we can. Whoever we get in the next round will give us difficult games but we have earned more respect after tonight. In the Liga everyone knows each other; in the Champions League teams want to play a different way. We know [at times] we will have to suffer [during matches] but we have the quality needed to get through those moments. Arda [Turan's] goal tonight gave us more strength.
