Diego Simeone has urged Atletico Madrid to give Fernando Torres the ‘night of dreams that he deserves’ when they sign off against Eibar.
A party atmosphere will sweep Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday evening, with Atleti having won the Europa League earlier in the week and secured second place in La Liga after Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw with Villarreal, while Torres will bid farewell to his boyhood club.
“Eibar? It’s clear enthusiasm will be the most important thing and that we’ll be playing at 140 percent,” the Coach said at a Press conference.
“It’s a special match because Fernando is retiring from Atletico. We all hope that he does so fittingly, with a win at a stadium that’s ready to explode, and I have no doubt that it’ll be a night of dreams.
“Finishing second seems a minor fact, but it’s not: it confirms everything we keep looking for and that we’re improving.
“Beyond the words are numbers: if you’re second in the UEFA rankings and second in League, while you’re competing with two monsters like Real Madrid or Barcelona, who end up winning almost everything, it’s clear that it would constitute a brilliant season.
“Departures? I always live each day as it comes, beyond imagining what’s best. Yesterday there were celebrations, the pictures with Fernando and the chants of ‘Griezmann, quedate’ [stay] … we live things day by day.
“After that come the difficulties, anger, sad faces… these things happen, but they have to.
“We all want to make the club better. To respect this club, you have to keep winning.
“Torres? It’s clear that he’ll play. He and Iniesta are special players. I cast my mind back to when Fernando said it was the end of his spell, a month-and-a-half or two months ago, Iniesta more or less the same.
“They’re greats of the game and they’ve done such important things for football that football’s ended up repaying them and they leave in an extraordinary manner.
“They each have a gift: whatever they choose to do, they choose well.”
