Simeone: Madrid will wait for us

Diego Simeone claims Real Madrid will “wait for us” in the Champions League final as Atletico “will press as high as we can and play with the ball”.

Speaking at a Press conference ahead of the Milan showpiece on May 28, Simeone was asked about how Madrid would approach the game and used their performances against Manchester City in the last four as evidence that they would counterattack against Atleti.

“We’re working harder with each day [in the build-up to May 28]. It’s a match with tremendous expectations,” the Coach said at Press conference.

“The situations are different [between Lisbon and Milan].

“We went into that final after having won the League, while this one comes after finishing third.

“Still, expectations are very important. We’ll play against a team with fantastic players and who are among the top three [teams] in the world.

“We’ll try to take the match to where we are most comfortable and feel most protected.

“It’s great to play two finals in three years, and that’s very important for us.

“[Milan] is about pure football. If there’s a stage which represents football, it’s in Italy.

“I played my best football there, with great affection from Inter fans, and the stage is spectacular.

“The pitch is fantastic, it’ll be very tight and you can really hear the noise there.

“I imagine [Madrid] to be a lot like when they played [Manchester] City, waiting for us.

“They have gained a lot of defensive strength from Casemiro and play on the counterattack.

“We mustn’t step out of line. We’ll press as high as we can and play with intensity.

“[On Zinedine Zidane], first of all, we must congratulate him on his work.

“His months [in charge] have been fabulous. He came in at a difficult time, his players had an affinity to him and that’s been shown.

“He provided them with a stimulus, speed in attack and more concrete style to take advantage of the speed of their three forwards, plus he gave the team tranquillity to compete.

“They managed to finish second [in La Liga] after they fought with dignity.

“We’re very good [on whether his team are scarred from Lisbon]. The final is 50-50, we both have chances [of winning], and we want to win.

“[If Madrid gave Atleti the initiative], we’d play with the ball.

“The tactics Real Madrid used against City were very good. As for our style, we’ve renewed it and changed it in October.”

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