Diego Simeone has highlighted Ademola Lookman’s growing importance following Atletico Madrid’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final victory over Barcelona.
The Nigerian forward has made a strong impression since his €35 million move from Atalanta during the winter window. He has registered six goals and four assists across all competitions, underlining his attacking output in a short period.
He also featured for 66 minutes in the second leg against Barcelona, where his first-half display added pace and directness to Atletico’s attack.Lookman scored the decisive goal in the 34th minute of the second leg, which ultimately proved enough to send Atletico through to the semifinals of the champions league.
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His contribution across both legs proved decisive in the final outcome, reinforcing his growing role in the squad.
“He’s still evolving, he’s improving a lot defensively which makes him even more important and of course he’s carrying more weight in the team”
The Atletico manager also emphasized the forward’s attacking strengths and fearlessness in one-on-one situations.
“He’s brilliant offensively, he’s very courageous and he’s very good in one on one. Since I’ve been at the club, we’ve never had players like that with those features and well, we are betting everything on playing almost four forwards. Giuliano is a winger, he’s almost a forward and when he attacks, he’s an extra forward and when we attack we played from the heart.”
Simeone added that the Nigerian still has room to grow, despite his strong start at the club.“The amount of running we did was unbelievable and Lookman’s offensive importance giving pace to the team when he was on the ball. We need more from him, he has more in his tank and we’ve seen it in Nigeria and well, he’s always played great”
Atletico Madrid will now turn attention to the semi-finals, where they face either Arsenal or Sporting CP, with Lookman expected to remain central to their attacking plans.
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