Advertisement

Arturo Vidal still thinks Atletico Madrid plays 'ugly' football

It's been over two weeks since Bayern Munich had its Champions League run ended by giant killer Atletico Madrid. Time, however, hasn't healed the wound of that disappointment for Arturo Vidal.

The Chilean midfielder continues to shake his head about the 2-1 second-leg home defeat that sent Bayern crashing out of the Champions League semifinals.

"I still keep asking myself how we managed to lose to Atletico," Vidal said in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Germany's Klaus Bellstedt. "We were the dominant team throughout the match. We gave it everything and we had a lot of chances, but we just had bad luck and the ball wouldn't go into the net, whereas they took advantage of their chances."

One missed chance keeps haunting Vidal – Thomas Muller's 34th-minute penalty kick that was kept out by Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Muller could've given Bayern a 2-1 aggregate lead over an Atletico Madrid side that was reeling at the time.

"I would certainly have liked to take the penalty kick," Vidal said. "But we do that in a clear order and it just wasn't my turn.

"I have great trust in Thomas. Oh well. … Let's hope it works out next time."

Vidal made headlines for calling Atletico Madrid's style of soccer "ugly." He doesn't regret what he said.

"Their team is very strong, but I'm sticking to what I say: It's not what you would call great football," Vidal reiterated.

Vidal also talked about how much soccer has meant to him and his family as well as the managers that have impressed him the most (news flash: Pep Guardiola wasn't among the two managers he mentioned).

The 28-year-old will be coming to America next month to help Chile defend its Copa America title. Vidal said Chile's Copa America Centenario squad is as strong as the 2015 championship team that raised the trophy on home soil.

"We have a young ambitous team that won this title for the first time," Vidal said. "We have a lot more potential and we will prove during this tournament that we didn't win the Copa America by accident."