Diego Simeone did not want to talk about João Félix in the run-up to Atlético's visit to Montjuïc. The Atlético coach did not deviate from his usual script, he said he expected a complicated match and put Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of his team: "I'm not talking about João Félix. I'm not talking about the boys who aren't there."
For Simeone, his team is increasingly closer to Real Madrid and Barcelona: "It is difficult to assess these things. In principle, Barcelona and Madrid start with more possibilities of winning, but in recent times we have shortened the distance. These are facts and not words and we continue working to continue shortening them."
The coach spoke about what worries him most about Barcelona: "What worries me most are their records from the second half of the field forward. Also, the breaks of their wingers against positional defenses."
Asked if Griezmann and João Félix could be more motivated, he commented: "Football cannot be explained by a match. A match is a match. The important thing is continuity, the story behind it. Everyone can play a match."
Nor does the Argentine believe that tomorrow will be a key match for his league, only important: "For us it is surely important. We will value it from that side. Next week it will be Almería and tomorrow we will play against a rival who will fight until the end to win the League. We will face a tough opponent as always since we arrived at Atlético. We have never won there."
Simeone does not know if he is going to find a Barcelona with doubts: "We would have to go inside their locker room to interpret if that is the case. They are probably happy and we have to continue in our line and accompany the team as we are doing."
As always, Simeone does not give much importance to possession or style: "These types of situations do not take up my time. I know that they must give their opinion and value what they see and explain it. But the numbers are just numbers. All the coaches in the preview imagine the ideal match for our team, but there is a rival and we will see if they allow us to do what we imagine," he stated.
Simeone did not give clues about the eleven but said that Riquelme and Lino can play together: "They can both play together. One with a changed leg or inside. I turn it around. They are young, they have intensity of play. Lino has an associative game of midfield forward with many variations and Roro a long route with more strength. They are growing and we need both of them for what the team asks for."
Simeone finished with his line: "I expect a nice game, against a team that has very good players, that is very well led by its coach and that has very clear ideas. We will try to take the game to where we believe we can hurt them."
