Atlético Madrid coach Diego Pablo Simeone spoke about the incidents during the Madrid derby that led to a 22-minute suspension due to lighters being thrown from the South Stand. He stated, "We need to punish both those who throw objects and those who provoke," referring to Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

"My opinion is that the club should sanction those responsible for the incidents. We don't need these people. We need the fans who support us. These actions hurt the club. But be careful, this doesn't justify the situations we, the players, create. We can help prevent these things from happening. Both the troublemakers and those provoking should be punished. You can clearly see Courtois riling up the crowd and laughing."

"We have to be cautious with how we provoke the crowd, and nothing happens. I repeat, this doesn’t excuse what happened afterward, but the players, including myself, have a lot to do with it. Those throwing lighters should be punished, but so should those provoking the fans," Simeone added.

When asked what he said to the fans when he approached them, asking them to stop throwing objects, the Atlético coach explained he told them not to hurt their own team and to stop what they were doing.

"I repeat, the club should punish those responsible for the incidents. That doesn’t excuse the situations we, the players, create. If we don’t face consequences, we allow ourselves to do whatever we want. What happened shouldn’t have happened, but Courtois was also hit with lighters when he was playing for Atlético at the Bernabéu. The club shouldn’t allow this, but we’re not victims. If we provoke, there might be a reaction. We can’t allow this either. We should punish anyone who provokes—whether it’s Simeone, Messi, Courtois, Vinicius, Griezmann, or anyone else. You can clearly see Courtois provoking by laughing."

Simeone concluded by addressing the incidents and what he told those throwing lighters. "The message I gave to the fans was to think about the club and the team. They weren’t helping. They claimed they were provoked by the rival goalkeeper."

"That doesn’t justify those actions, but hopefully, we can also punish the players who provoke, and just because of who they are, nothing happens to them," he stated.