His style may not be captivating, but it's quite effective. That's how Diego Simeone thinks after being blasted by some critics, who think Atlético Madrid's take on football is destroying the beauty of the game.
In an interview published by Diario As, the Argentinean coach defended his approach on the game, considering that he needs to use all available tools in hand to end up winning.
"If you’re on a national team you can choose how you play but…when you’re at a club where the budget varies from one number to another, it’s clear that first you have to work to win. There are a lot of ways to play well. It’s clear that the objective is to win," Simeone said.
Collecting an amazing 23 clean sheets in 36 La Liga games this year, "El Cholo" seems happy with the way his players work. In fact, he hinted that his team would play differently if he had other tools to work with.
"If we all had a Ferrari that’d be one thing, but sometimes you have a Peugeot. We’re all right in football and the path can be reached in several ways. Then there is what you like and you can’t be angry with the opinions," the South American tactician added.
Finally, Simeone analyzed the UEFA Champions League final, where Los Colchoneros will face bitter-rivals Real Madrid. Discarding any deesire of revenge after losing the tournament's final against Los Blancos two years ago, the Argentinean warned those who are ruling his team's chances of winning out.
"It’s 50-50. We know a lot about them. What we’re doing will go down in history because we’re showing the world what we can do. Barcelona, Madrid, Bayern Munich, they’re better but beware, because we’re there," Simeone concluded.
Atlético will try to take the top of La Liga when they meet already relegated side Levante on Sunday. At 85 points, Los Colchoneros are dead even with Barcelona, but the Blaugrana side won both of their domestic meetings this season, which would make the difference if both teams end up with the same amount of points.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
