Ahead of tomorrow's Champions League final between Real Madrid and Ateltico Madrid at San Siro in Italy, Atletico's head coach Diego Simeone had this to say at the UEFA Press conference:
The game will be very tense, very even, especially at the beginning. Casemiro enables them to regroup better if they lose the ball. Whoever wins the early battles in midfield will have an advantage – Madrid, with their technical qualities, might try to play more.
The club, the players, the group we've created, is reinventing itself continuously. That's what is most valuable at this club. Everyone works with the idea of improving, growing, and that's life – if you work, work, work, eventually you get what you want.
To play a final is absolutely fantastic, to win it is even better. That experience makes you want to continue living these moments. It's not easy; you have to pick yourself up, keep inventing yourself, change the players but not change the commitment, the values, the work. If you keep working, you're insistent, you can achieve things.
We're not really going to change much for this game – neither team will. Madrid haven't changed much [since 2014]; we've changed more but we have the same structure. Casemiro makes Madrid a lot more dangerous on the counterattack – that's how they played in both [semi-final] legs against Manchester City. Many people think that's bad – not me. There could be different situations during the game but it's clear that, if you give Madrid space, they're very dangerous.
I like to have 113 years of history on my back – I like that, I love the pressure. Only winning would satisfy me.
Source: transfermarketweb.com