Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke has slammed the treatment of Iker Casillas by Real Madrid fans, describing it as “unfair”.
Casillas has been the subject of whistles from the Santiago Bernabeu faithful for the past two seasons, with them blaming him for a number of goals conceded, but Spain international teammate Koke has leapt to his defence.
“We all know Iker and I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes after what has happened with Real Madrid and the national team,” maintained Koke, who was speaking at the second edition of a football campus in Extremadura that carries his name.
“It’s a real injustice. Last week we saw the way the Liverpool fans said goodbye to [Steven] Gerrard and now you see Casillas, who is an icon for the club, being whistled at, and that’s unfair.”
The 23-year-old admitted he would not mind following in Gerrard’s footsteps with Atleti, although asked to give his opinion on reports that David de Gea could be returning to the Spanish capital with Real Madrid, he refused to be drawn.
“I have a contract with Atletico and want to achieve things here, where I’m happy, and of course I’d like to be Atleti’s Gerrard.
“As for David, he’s a good friend of mine and right now he’s a Manchester United player. If he becomes a Madrid player one day then I’ll have an opinion.”
Diego Simeone’s men travel to Granada on Saturday knowing a point would be enough to secure an automatic place in next season’s Champions League.
However, Koke says they will be going out to claim all three points.
“A draw will suffice but we’ll be going for the win. Granada are fighting for their lives and we want to claim third spot,” he affirmed.
