Simeone surprises and reveals what he admires most about the Real Madrid team
Over the 12 years in charge of Atlético, Simeone has witnessed different versions of Real Madrid
Atlético de Madrid x Real Madrid
In the 2023/24 season, Atlético Madrid, under Diego Simeone , faced Real Madrid on three occasions, maintaining an advantage with two wins against one defeat.
Carlo Ancelotti ‘s two defeats were the Merengues’ only defeats throughout the year, something that caught the attention of the colchonero coach.
In an interview with ESPN, Simeone did not hide his “envy” when praising Real Madrid ‘s organization and structure . The Argentine expressed admiration for Florentino Pérez’s management, highlighting the Merengue president’s ability to manage the club in an exemplary way, even in the face of the departure of iconic players such as Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and others.
“I wish we could only lose two games out of 45. Do you have the resources, do you have the tools? They have. They have a very strong president. Florentino manages and manages a club that is certainly one of the best in the world or the best in the world in an extraordinary way,” said
Quality team
Over the 12 years in charge of Atlético, Simeone has witnessed different versions of Real Madrid. He highlighted the difficulty of facing the team, which continues to renew itself and generate admiration for its focus on building and renewing the team.
“As a team, since we started playing against them, it has always been difficult. Going back a little, we can talk about Ronaldo, Benzema, Ozil, Di María, Higuaín, Xabi Alonso. Now Vinicius, Bellingham also arrived very well. The arrival of young people like Bellingham, like Camavinga, like Tchouameni, like Brahim, like Fede Valverde…”, he stated.
Simeone analyzed Real’s only defeat of the season, in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup, expressing his frustration as he considered Atlético to be superior in the 90 minutes.
“I think we were better in the 90 minutes, and in one action they are capable of changing an entire match. And that makes us know that when we play against them, our concentration level has to be at 100% and that, when we achieve that, we know how to compete against them. And they know that we know how to compete with them. This is what gives us strength”, he assessed.
In the climate of mutual respect between Madrid’s two rivals, Simeone emphasized the need for maximum concentration and well-thought-out strategies to compete against such a formidable opponent as Real Madrid.
