Atletico Madrid Coach Diego Simeone has told Real Madrid that their best player is Angel Di Maria, who is thought to be on the verge of leaving.
Di Maria has been heavily linked with a move away from Santiago Bernabeu but was still used by Carlo Ancelotti in the 1-1 Supercopa de Espana first leg draw between Madrid and Atletico.
The Argentina international was introduced as a second half substitute and helped tip the balance of the game in Madrid’s favour, catching Cholo’s eye in the process.
Simeone told his post-match Press conference that he feels Di Maria is ahead of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez as Los Blancos’ best player.
“The game changed with Di Maria. It’s logical, he’s the best player they have,” AS reports Simeone as saying.
“He’s the most dominant player in pushing the play up the pitch.”
Simeone also spoke about his players and was asked for his thoughts on Mario Mandzukic, both the striker’s performance and an incident in which he and Sergio Ramos tangled.
“I didn’t see any situation with Real Madrid, or both Ramos and Mandzukic or anyone else,” he replied.
“Mandzukic did a great job. A great job for the team defensively.
“We have Mario and Raul [Jimenez] to be outlets. We’re a compact team and we came out more or less as expected.”
