Atletico de Madrid boss Diego Simeone believes their Champions League opponents Liverpool will go down as one of football’s greatest teams.
The Spanish side are huge underdogs for their clash against the English Premier League leaders, who have collected an incredible 76 points from 78 available this season.
Furthermore, the Reds – who have not won a domestic league title since 1990 – have dropped just two points in their last 35 league matches stretching back to March 2019, with a 1-1 draw at Manchester United four months ago.
Liverpool lifted the Champions League title at Atleti’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium last June and are once again among the firm favourites to win the competition this year.
By contrast, Atleti have struggled for form all season and they currently languish in fourth place in La Liga, a whopping 13 points behind city rivals Real Madrid and just three points ahead of Real Sociedad, in eighth.
“We are facing a fantastic team, really well-trained by a Coach who is different and has different alternatives in his team,” Simeone said, in quotes carried by Marca.
“We have always spoken about great teams throughout time and I have no doubt this Liverpool is going to go down in history as a great team because it is different to teams that we have admired in the past.
“This team is much more intense, more adaptable, and it makes me admire it as a rival, with all the work that a great Coach like Jurgen has done.
“Of course we can win, I deal in facts and with our qualities, and the fact that in a football game anything can happen.
“I do not see pessimism, I see optimism and enthusiasm, the stadium is going to be jumping, we have some players of great quality, we are preparing the game with passion and I see optimism, what I like more than anything else.”