"It will be a tough tie"
Diego Pablo Simeone said his team showed the desire to return to compete in Cup and warned in a press conference prior to the second round match of the dangers of an "excited and motivated" Valencia after the arrival of Pizzi.
Simeone said that "the Cup is very important" for Atletico since, besides defending the title, it is an historic competition for our club. "We give importance to all tournaments and friendly matches. The Cup is very important to us and we'll go play with the team we understand can put in the right performance to get in front, it will be very difficult. " Acknowledged by the coach from Buenos Aires , Valencia will "not make things easy" in this tie. "Valencia have just changed their coach and that always generates a lot of enthusiasm. People who had not played so much with the other coach start taking more confidence, security and more hope and that makes everything fresher. Valencia have a great team with great players" he said.
To Simeone , the arrival of Pizzi to Valencia will be a breath of fresh air for the Valencian team. "I have not seen many games to talk about how he’s coaching here. I've seen him in Argentina, I get the feeling that he is a brave coach, there he used to play three back at the and is normal when you come to a club you go with what you’ve got. He comes from being champion in Argentina and that's a great achievement because it is a tough tournament and I wish him well as a colleague and as an Argentine".
Raul Garcia is one of the names of the season for Atletico and Simeone was delighted with his effort and work. "Raul is a very important player for us. He's one of our captains, a guy who is a role model. Many do not remember but the first game of the Super Cup against Barcelona he was not even on the bench and he always showed personality, work, work and more work. He’s in good form and the team needs him. "he said.
Finally and to say goodbye, Diego Pablo Simeone recognized that in this new year "I ask health for everyone and hopefully a great game tomorrow which is what interests us. We are very happy with the players we have and now we're fine," he concluded.
