Ahead of the Champions League final, Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone isn’t underestimating a Real Madrid side he sees as having taken on a new life under Zinedine Zidane.
Argentine Simeone’s Atletico at one point were neck-and-neck withBarcelona in a late dash to the title, but were usurped by Zidane’s Madrid to runners-up with a scintillating run of their own to end the season. Real won their final 12 matches in La Liga to finish just a single point behind Barca, who despite a strange mid-April slide recovered to retain the Spanish title.
That stretch also saw Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Co breeze by AS Roma in the Champions League last 16, mount a sensational fightback against Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals and stifleManchester City on their way into next Saturday’s final. With their heralded ‘BBC’ trio finally healthy, Madrid finally reached a level they had struggled to get to all season.
Still, it will not be forgotten in Zidane’s camp that their one loss of note before they picked up steam came against none other than Atletico at the Bernabeu in February.
Simeone, however, feels the influence of Zidane has gradually instilled more solidity in the side since then. He admitted he was impressed by his counterpart’s work with Real.
“He has recovered the confidence, intensity and the speed of their attack," Simeone said of Zidane. “He has a more concrete style to make the most of the three strikers.
“To get to a Champions League final is an important demonstration of his work."
Yet, despite the presence of three-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo, the world’s most expensive player in Bale and the likes of Benzema and Luka Modric, Simeone said he expects the Real to play on the counter-attack.
“In the Champions League that is clearly the route they have chosen," added Simeone.
“I expect an opponent that will wait for their opportunity. The presence of Casemiro in midfield has given them a lot of power defensively and in the Champions League they have played on the counter-attack."
Atletico traversed a more treacherous path to the final, edging Barcelona in the quarter-finals and then trumping Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. But Simeone’s star striker Antoine Griezmann, fifth-leading scorer in the competition this term with seven goals, says that it isn’t cause for any extra confidence.
“Just because we have beaten Bayern or Barca doesn’t mean we will win this match.
“It doesn’t guarantee anything. We have to give everything we have.