On Monday, Atletico Madrid – alongside the other 15 teams to have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages – will found out their opponents for the last 16, which gets underway in February.
Diego Simeone’s side will be seeded for the draw, having topped Group E ahead of Lazio, Feyenoord and Celtic. This gives Atleti a better chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, and if they can do that, they would surely be a dark house in the competition.
However, not everything thinks so highly of Atleti. When discussing possible opponents for Inter Milan, who finished behind Real Sociedad in Group D, for the last 16 draw, Giorgio Chiellini claimed that Los Rojiblancos would be an ideal opponent for the Nerazzurri, as per MD.
“A team like Inter can’t be afraid of Atletico Madrid. You can be afraid of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, but Inzaghi’s team is not inferior to Simeone’s.”
It is not wise to underestimate Atletico Madrid and Simeone. They proved many wrong in 2014 and 2016 when they reached the Champions League final, and they could very easily do the same in 2024, especially considering how well they are playing this season.
