Atletico Madrid assistant manager German Burgos has insisted that "the entire coaching staff" at the Spanish club are always 'ready to lead' following Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg against Arsenal.
Burgos was left in charge of Atletico from the dugout after head coach Diego Simeone had been sent to the stands for arguing the referee's decision to issue a red card to Sime Vrsaljko in the early stages of the 1-1 draw.
Burgos also paid tribute to the club's players for their "heroic performance" at the Emirates Stadium.
"It was surprising for us, but we have to be ready to act and lead in those situations," Burgos told beIN Sports. "The entire coaching staff know that they must be in a position to act in those circumstances and fortunately we were able to.
"We have to play every game with the same mindset, as if they are all finals, as we did for this game – it will be the same against Alaves on Sunday then for the second leg. We put in a heroic performance against a great team with a great coach, we were presented with problems but we knew how to solve them."
Atletico will welcome Arsenal to their new Wanda Metropolitano Stadium for the second leg next week.
Matt Law
