Diego Pablo Simeon He attended the media from the press room of the Etihad Stadium, where this Tuesday he visits Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Much is said in the preview of the different styles. What do you learn from Guardiola?
What I like the most about teams that play well, like City, is the effort they make to recover, to propose attacking football… It’s nice to watch them play, they continually evolve, including their figures, and what awakens important things in me is seeing Sterling, De Bruyne… pressing, always being active, not giving up any ball… Added to talent is that quota of work that all coaches like.
With the return home, can you risk less?
The qualifiers, we are used to seeing and playing them, are really long games. Each one will propose what he believes for each moment. Now comes the first, with a rival with a lot of tools to play positionally, against, long, to shoot crosses, reach the area with many people from the second line… Everything that is seen is good and against them we are going to to compete.
What match do you watch?
Looking to get to the place where we think we can do harm. With our features and our way of playing for years, continue competing as you have for years.
Manchester City and Bayern are the favourites. Do they have more pressure?
We all have pressure, although I don’t know if pressure is the right word. We have responsibility. City have extraordinary footballers, better than us for sure. They are two parties. City and Bayern start ahead, but last year Chelsea won the championship, they did not expect it and it grew and became strong.
Atlético has repeated United’s previous plan: flight, hotel, press conference… Superstition?
Chance.
The English have done well in Europe. Can this mystique help you?
No not at all.
Are the stars of this tie Guardiola and Simeone?
No, both teams have very good squads, very complete, with different characteristics everywhere, but with personality, hierarchy… It will be a game of footballers, although we will try to help from the bench. I like to see Manchester City play.
Can the match at Old Trafford be of any use to you tomorrow?
Manchester United had different qualities, faster, more direct… City is more positional, they have very good records and we will have to improve on all the good things we did three weeks ago.
What does it tell you to see yourself among the top eight again?
All of us who are at this point aspire to reach the most beautiful place, which is to win. There are very good rivals in all the qualifiers. I hope whoever deserves it wins.
“Guardiola was lucky to have extraordinary players”
Simeone attended the #Vamos microphones and made reference to the great players coached by Guardiola. “In the teams where I have had to be I have never had the possibility of having Xavi, Busquets, Piqué, Iniesta, Messi… all of them young. So beyond Guardiola’s great talent, he was lucky to always be accompanied by extraordinary players.”
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