Olympiacos boss Michel claims Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are a team that nobody wants to play against.
Michel takes his team to the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday, knowing that if they win and Juventus draw against Malmo in the other Group A Champions League game they can proceed to the next stage of the competition.
However, the former Real Madrid player is aware it will be a very tough ask against a side that has been moulded in Simeone’s own image.
“Right now Atletico are undesirable opponents for any team,” Michel told a Press conference.
“Although Real Madrid and Barcelona are at a different level to what they were last year, the work Simeone has done with his players is faultless.
“Hopefully we can repeat the result in the first group game when we beat them and we’ll try to do the same things we did then.
“There is not much tactical difference between playing at home or away and if we look at the previous games in the competition the approaches are always similar.
“But we are doing magnificently. For example, we played very well against Juventus and lost, while living up to what we did in Athens against Atletico will be very difficult, but we’ll continue on the same path.”
Michel also assessed the recent inactivity of his players, who have not played a competitive game for 17 days.
“It’s not an excuse because we’ve had a lot of time to prepare and work towards this match. We will be facing a lot of exceptional players in this tournament and on paper we can’t compare with Atletico.
“I like my players a lot as they do much for me and the team, so I can’t fault them, but if Arda [Turan] and Koke could be at a christening that would be fantastic,” he smiled.
